Code Lyoko x Godzilla: Reign of Kaiju
by The Eccentric Gamer
Summary: Following Code Lyoko's third season, the Lyoko Warriors try to continue their fight against XANA. However, XANA has struck first by taking control of many of Earth's kaiju and sending them on destructive rampages around the world. When all hope seems lost for the Lyoko Warriors, they gain help from an unexpected source: Godzilla, King of the Monsters...
1. Chapter 1: King of the Monsters

**DISCLAIMER: _Code Lyoko_ and _Godzilla_ are owned by Splash Entertainment, LLC and Toho Co., Ltd., respectively. I claim no ownership of either franchise.**

* * *

There is something about life in the big city that may seem confusing at first—even with so many people going about their daily lives in close quarters to one another, activity still progresses at a continuous pace. Residents still arrive at their workplaces on time, public transit still runs on schedule, and cars still navigate the sprawling urban maze at a slow but steady rate. For some, therefore, it may be surprising that a place so densely populated could operate as efficiently as it does.

For one unfortunate metropolis, however, this controlled chaos would be nothing compared to the mayhem that was about to ensue.

A small but noticeable tremor was the first sign that something was amiss. It was immediately followed by a second, larger tremor, causing people to glance around in alarm. The ground shook yet again, even more violently. These quakes were periodic, almost like footsteps— _giant_ footsteps.

Suddenly, a woman screamed and pointed upward, drawing the attention of the crowd of people around her. That was when the panic began. Within moments, hundreds upon hundreds of people began to run away in terror—and with good reason, for a gigantic, clawed foot impacted the street, easily crushing the pavement and anything else below it.

That foot belonged to an unbelievably _colossal_ creature. Green and reptilian in appearance, this monster rose taller than most of the buildings surrounding it. It walked on two long, slender legs, and used its clawed forearms to rip through and destroy any structure that stood in its way. A row of long, conical spikes extended from its head all the way to the tip of its winding, almost serpentine tail.

As the green monster laid waste to the city, a loud whirring noise caught its attention. It looked up, and spotted a pair of attack helicopters flying towards it. Before it had a chance to respond, the helicopters each launched a salvo of missiles towards the beast, which exploded on contact with its scaly skin. Enduring the punishment, the monster opened its mouth, revealing dozens of sharp teeth lining its jaws, and let out a deafening roar of defiance at the aircraft. Then the creature inhaled before opening its maw again—but instead of another roar, it unleashed a long tendril of orange flame towards the helicopters, vaporizing them both instantly. As the flame subsided, the green monster snarled and once again turned its attention to the city, seemingly taking no pride in such a mundane feat.

But before the creature could resume its destruction of the metropolis, it heard another noise. This time, it was a low rumbling noise, and coming from the ground. Suddenly, the street in front of it erupted in a vertical torrent of dirt. The monster paused, perplexed by the anomaly. As the cloud of debris dispersed, a loud, high-pitched screech pierced through the air, greeting the creature.

The green monster growled in hostility. The source of the screech was none other than a _second_ monster—more accurately, a giant, brown centipede, clad in a hard, protective exoskeleton. The overgrown arthropod reared up on its many hind limbs, extending its height to match that of the green monster. The green monster roared territorially towards the giant centipede, which responded with another screech. Only one of these monsters could have the right to destroy the city, and they would fight each other to the death to earn it.

Promptly, the giant centipede curled its body into a ball, and began to roll towards the green monster. The green monster stretched out its forearms in an attempt to stop the centipede in its tracks, but the arthropod's momentum was too much for it to withstand. The giant centipede slammed into the green monster's body, sending it toppling into one of the surrounding buildings. The rolling centipede careened over the reptilian creature's body, and then disappeared out of sight.

The green monster righted itself, and then rose back to its feet from the rubble of the building it fell into. It glanced around inquisitively—the giant centipede had vanished without a trace. Then, looking down, it spotted a large, gaping hole in the street, close to where it had fallen. The beast peered into the hole for some sign of its adversary when the ground erupted again, this time just under its feet.

The giant centipede emerged from the ground and wrapped its body around the green monster, now attempting to constrict its foe to death. As the arthropod tightened its grip on the reptilian creature, however, the latter managed to wedge its forearms free from the former's grasp. Then, the green monster grabbed the centipede's body with its clawed hands, and began to pull its opponent apart.

 _CRACK._

With incredible strength, the green monster ripped the giant centipede's exoskeleton armor—followed by the rest of its body—in two. Yellow bodily fluids spewed out from each of the severed halves of the centipede, and the arthropod's upper portion released its hold on the green monster and fell to the ground on its back, writhing in pain. The green monster, showing no mercy, opened its mouth and unleashed another ray of flame down upon its rival.

Once again, the flame abated. The green monster looked down at what was left of its adversary. The centipede, its exoskeleton charred, now lay lifeless on the pavement of the street. Triumphant, the green monster raised its head to the sky and gave a mighty bellow that could be heard from miles away.

 _GAME OVER._

* * *

 _Boeing 787 Dreamliner, over the Sea of Japan_

"Aw, come on!" cried Hiroki as those two words flashed across the screen of his handheld game console.

Having dozed off earlier, Yumi sat up abruptly in the adjacent seat, roused by her little brother's protest. With an annoyed sigh, she turned to him and asked, "Hiroki, do you think you could maybe keep it down? I've been trying to get some sleep."

"Why should I?" the Japanese boy retorted. "Sleeping's not the only way to pass the time, you know. Why do you think I brought along _Kaiju Klash 3_?"

"Hiroki, I'm _serious_ ," said Yumi, her temper growing.

Overhearing her children's bickering, Mrs. Ishiyama sat up from the other seat next to Yumi and looked at her son. "Hiroki," she ordered, "put that game away. We'll be landing in less than an hour."

"Oh, all right," Hiroki lamented, tucking his game console out of sight. Once he made sure his mother wasn't looking, however, he secretly pulled it back out and resumed playing _Kaiju Klash 3_. Yumi, on the other hand, leaned her head against the seat's headrest and closed her eyes, hoping to get as much rest as possible before the plane landed.

For the most part, the twelve-hour flight had been a very dull and uncomfortable experience. Yumi had never done well on long-distance trips like this—sitting in a cramped seat for several hours on end always left her feeling stiff and worn out. But she took comfort in knowing that it would all be worth it once they landed in Tokyo in just less than an hour. After all, she hadn't seen her uncle in nearly five years.

Hiroshi Ogata was a leading geologist; he had published countless scholarly articles and participated in several conferences that had to do with the geologic history of Japan, with topics ranging from how the Japanese islands had formed to the impacts of the devastating earthquake that shook Tōhoku in 2011. When Yumi was younger, Ogata used to make annual trips to France to see her and the rest of her family. These visits made the two of them very close to one another. Much to Yumi's sadness, however, he stopped visiting the Ishiyamas five years ago, explaining that the intense demands of his job no longer allowed him to take time off to see them.

Exactly what those intense demands were, Ogata had never made clear. But Yumi didn't care—since then, she had longed to see her uncle again, which was why she was ecstatic when her parents announced that they would be traveling to Japan to see him for Spring Break.

Yumi attempted to block those thoughts out of her mind as she tried to rest, but she couldn't help it. With every minute that passed, the plane—which was now descending as it crossed over the blue waters of the Sea of Japan—drew ever closer to Tokyo. Yumi was too excited to doze now. She wondered if her uncle would be just as happy to see her as she was to see him, or if he would still recognize her after all these years, or if—

A ping from the airliner's public address system stirred Yumi out of her thoughts. A male voice began speaking in different languages—first in Japanese, then in French, and finally in English: _"Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. Due to circumstances beyond our control, the air traffic controllers in Tokyo have instructed us to divert to Sapporo. We will arrive there in another hour. We apologize for the inconvenience."_

Yumi heard a series of groans echo through the cabin, and she almost added to them. _Sapporo?!_ she thought, aghast. Sapporo was a city located on Japan's northern island of Hokkaido—hundreds of miles from Tokyo. As Yumi started to feel the plane turn left towards Hokkaido, she pondered why they could possibly need to divert so far away from their destination.

* * *

 _Sapporo, Japan_

True to the pilot's word, the plane touched down an hour later at New Chitose Airport, the airport that served Sapporo. As they taxied off the runway and onto the tarmac, Yumi glanced towards the window. She could see dozens of airplanes parked just outside the terminal—seemingly more than what the airport had been designed to handle. This became especially apparent when the plane parked and shut its engines down a considerable distance away from the gates.

Taking notice of the predicament, Mr. Ishiyama got the attention of a passing flight attendant. "Excuse me, but why have we stopped so far away from the terminal?" he asked.

"The airport has been overcrowded with other flights diverted from Tokyo," the flight attendant explained. "We've been instructed to park on the taxiway. That's all I know." The flight attendant moved on.

Yumi was astonished. So they weren't the only ones who had been rerouted from Tokyo. As the passengers started to disembark from the aircraft via a mobile boarding ramp, her mind flashed through all of the many things that could be wrong in Tokyo. Had there been an earthquake? A typhoon? A terrorist attack? And a more concerning thought: what about her uncle? Was he okay?

Upon exiting the aircraft and entering the terminal, Yumi and her family were stunned to discover that the entire airport was congested by hundreds, if not _thousands_ of people who had also been destined for Tokyo, only to be stranded here. As the Ishiyamas struggled to make their way across the terminal, Yumi noticed that many of the people they passed had worried looks.

"I have to use the bathroom!" Hiroki abruptly announced.

The Ishiyamas stopped in their tracks. Then, turning to Yumi, Mr. Ishiyama instructed, "Yumi, take Hiroki to the restroom. Your mother and I are going to try to book a hotel room for us to stay in tonight."

Mr. and Mrs. Ishiyama promptly left Hiroki and Yumi alone together, much to the latter's dissatisfaction. Yumi spotted a men's restroom nearby, and escorted Hiroki towards it.

"Don't take too long," Yumi told her little brother, stopping just outside the entrance to the restroom.

"Oh, don't worry," Hiroki replied with a snicker, "I'd never dream of leaving my big sis alone for more than two minutes."

Yumi rolled her eyes as he entered the restroom, and then she leaned against the wall, waiting for him to finish. She still had no idea why they had needed to divert all this way to Sapporo, and the need to find out was now much more than what she could bear.

As it turned out, she didn't need to wait long for an answer.

A sudden bout of commotion near one of the terminal's gates caught Yumi's attention. Intrigued, she left her post near the entrance of the men's restroom and trotted over to the source of the disturbance, where a large crowd of people had assembled. As she drew nearer, Yumi saw that they had gathered around one of the airport's many TVs, but the large number of people obstructed her view of the screen.

Yumi opted to get a closer look. "Excuse me, coming through…" she muttered to those in the crowd as she gently pushed her way through. At last, she had a clear view of the TV. It was tuned into a Japanese news station broadcasting live aerial footage of a city, which Yumi easily recognized as Tokyo. But clearly, something wasn't right—as the shot panned across the surface of the sprawling metropolis, she saw signs of severe damage that had been inflicted on the many buildings. Many smaller structures appeared to have been ripped to shreds, almost as if they had been blown away by hurricane-force winds. The large skyscrapers had, for the most part, fared much better—although Yumi noticed a few of them looked as though they had been partially crushed from above by some unknown force. Then the camera began to pan upward towards the top of one building, and what Yumi saw nearly caused her jaw to fall straight to the ground.

Perched atop the building was a massive, reptilian creature that stood tall over the surrounding cityscape. Its arms were stretched out from either side, revealing a pair of broad, membranous wings. The creature itself was dark red in appearance, save for some large, tawny scales and spikes that armored its torso and legs; and a dark, horny crest that protruded from the back of its head, nearly as long as its narrow beak.

Yumi continued to watch the TV, dumbstruck as the creature began to flap its gigantic wings before leaping from the building and taking flight. It was at this moment that she recognized the creature as a pterosaur—a flying reptile that had coexisted with the dinosaurs. As the pterosaur soared away from the shot, its wings directed powerful gusts of wind towards the ground, stirring a dense cloud of debris in its wake.

"Thanks for waiting for me, sis," spat a young, sarcastic voice behind Yumi. She spun around to find Hiroki standing right behind her.

"Wait until I tell Mom and Dad that you tried to ditch me," the boy snarled at her.

But Yumi would have none of it. "Knock it off, Hiroki!" she reprimanded him, then gestured at the TV, on which the giant pterosaur had reappeared. "Look at the TV!"

Hiroki did as he was told, and his typical snarky demeanor immediately gave way to one of shock. "It's a real-life kaiju!" he exclaimed. This wasn't a new word to Yumi— _kaiju_ was a Japanese name for a monster. As she and Hiroki continued watching, the news report revealed more of the Tokyo skyline. Pillars of smoke were rising from the urban landscape, and the streets were littered with rubble.

It made sense now—this kaiju was the reason why they had wound up here in Sapporo. But as far as Yumi was concerned, this revelation only raised more questions than answers. Where did it come from? Why was it attacking Tokyo? And, of course, one important question remained unanswered: was her uncle all right?

* * *

Finding a hotel room was not an easy task for the Ishiyamas; hundreds of diverted flights from Tokyo had stranded thousands of people in Sapporo, and the cheapest available hotels had already been filled to the brim. Eventually, however, Mr. Ishiyama was able to book a hotel room in downtown Sapporo using a laptop he had brought along for the trip. Getting to the hotel also proved to be a challenge—the airport's below-ground train station was ill-equipped to handle the massive influx of passengers. But after riding the train from the airport to the city, it was only a matter of finding a subway line that led to the hotel. Nonetheless, it wasn't until after nightfall that the family had been able to settle into their hotel room—a modestly-sized room with two beds, a sofa, and a small bathroom.

Hiroki turned on the room's single TV, only to find the channels flooded with continuing news coverage of the massive pterosaur's rampage through Tokyo. The family was too still too stunned to say anything—they only listened as the reporters informed their viewers what was known. The kaiju had caused extensive damage to the Greater Tokyo Area, killing hundreds of people and injuring thousands more. The country's armed forces, the Japan Self-Defense Forces, or JSDF, had taken action against the kaiju, but were unable to inflict any harm to it.

The news only got more shocking as the Ishiyamas kept listening. Apparently, there was _more than one_ kaiju; there were unconfirmed reports of an aquatic dinosaur sighted near the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, and that a Chinese frigate had suddenly sunk in the East China Sea. At the moment, however, the media was fixated almost solely on the pterosaur in Tokyo—so much, in fact, that it had even been given a name: _Rodan_.

The family was able to get a sense of how big Rodan was when he swooped down to perch himself atop a high-rise. He easily stood at least seventy meters tall, and his wingspan was as wide as a soccer field. The camera shot zoomed in to get a good look at Rodan's head, revealing a row of sharp teeth lining the inside of his beak, and a pair of large yellow eyes that regarded the cityscape below with a look of abhorrence.

That was when Yumi saw it. Rodan's eyes blinked, and then they appeared to flicker. Yumi leaned towards the TV to get a better look. Although it was brief, she made out an eyelike symbol within Rodan's pupils—one that she instantly recognized.

 _XANA!_ Yumi realized in horror. She should have guessed—the malicious A.I. she had fought for the past two years had possessed this strange creature and set him loose on Tokyo, though how he had done it was beyond her knowledge. She suddenly had another horrifying revelation: Rodan, under XANA's influence, had already killed numerous people. Not even a return to the past could bring someone back from the dead. And if it was true that Rodan wasn't the only kaiju in existence, XANA could seek to take control of more—if he hadn't already. More cities could share Tokyo's fate if XANA had an army of kaiju at his disposal. Hundreds of thousands of more lives could be lost. The world was facing a catastrophe…

Yumi purged those thoughts from her head. XANA hadn't succeeded yet, nor would she let him—not without a fight. She quickly determined what she had to do.

As Yumi contemplated, Mr. Ishiyama, holding a small cell phone in his hand, suddenly sighed in frustration. "I can't get a signal in this hotel room," he complained to his wife. "How the heck are we supposed to contact Hiroshi?"

Mrs. Ishiyama, although still worried about the whereabouts of her brother, did her best to reassure her husband. "Calm down, Takeho. Maybe there's better reception in the lobby," she suggested.

"It's worth a try," the Japanese man responded with a shrug. With that, the couple began to walk towards the hotel room's entrance door. "Yumi, Hiroki, we'll be back in about ten minutes. We're going to try to get in touch with your uncle." They left the hotel room.

With her parents gone, Yumi seized the opportunity. "I'm going to take a shower," she told Hiroki, hoping he wouldn't be nosy. As discreetly as possible, she removed her family's laptop from her father's bag and carried it towards the bathroom. As it turned out, however, her actions didn't go unnoticed.

"Whatcha going to do with that?" Hiroki asked with a snicker. "Email your precious Ulrich a love letter?"

Yumi huffed with annoyance. She didn't have the time to deal with this. Fortunately, she knew just how to counter her little brother's immaturity.

"Shut it, Hiroki," she commanded, "or else I'll tell Milly how much you missed her when we get back."

Hiroki's mischievous attitude was obliterated in less than a second. _"Hey, don't you dare say a thing to her!"_ he exclaimed, his cheeks turning pink with embarrassment. _"You got that?!"_

Yumi strode into the bathroom without saying a word, although she was unable to suppress a triumphant smirk. She shut the door behind her and set down the laptop on the countertop before booting it up, and then she opened a video chat application on the computer. Yumi knew just who to call; she only hoped that they had a plan to fight this latest scheme by XANA.

"Jeremy? Aelita? Are you there?" she asked. In response, Yumi was greeted with the image of a blonde-haired boy with glasses and a girl with short, pink hair standing next to him on the laptop screen.

"Hi, Yumi," Jeremy's voice rang from the laptop's speakers.

"How is Spring Break going for you guys?" Yumi inquired. She already knew that the two were spending the holiday with Jeremy's family back home in France—with no other family to go to, Aelita had been invited to stay at their house.

"It's been a busy week for us, but fun nonetheless," answered Aelita. "Jeremy's family really knows how to make me feel at home."

"That's good," Yumi responded.

"So, are you in Japan now?" asked Jeremy.

"Yes, I am," she confirmed. "But let me tell you—something bizarre is going on here."

"We've heard about it," said Jeremy. "The giant pterosaur in Tokyo?"

"How did you know?" Yumi asked in surprise.

"It's been all over the news here—they're calling it Rodan. Aelita and I were worried that you were in Tokyo when it attacked."

"Our flight was diverted to Sapporo," Yumi explained, "but there's something you have to know."

"What?"

"I was watching the news coverage of Rodan's attack, and I got a glimpse of its eyes. I think he's under XANA's control."

A stunned silence fell between the teens. "Are you sure?" Aelita finally asked.

"I'm positive," Yumi assured her. "I saw the eye of XANA as clear as day."

Aelita and Jeremy looked at each other for a moment. "That could explain the high power outputs we've been reading from the Replikas," Aelita told him.

"I was thinking the exact same thing," Jeremy agreed grimly.

"Wait a minute, what are you guys talking about?" Yumi asked, confused.

"Jeremy and I spent the holiday decoding the data that my father sent us before Lyoko was destroyed," Aelita explained. "We still have a ways to go before we're able to rebuild Lyoko, but we've learned a lot from what he gave us."

"According to Franz Hopper's data," Jeremy continued, "XANA has created several copies of Lyoko on the network called 'Replikas.' We think he's been using them to do his dirty work throughout the world."

"And you think they might have something to do with Rodan?" Yumi asked again.

"Correct," Jeremy replied. "We've already seen some of the Replikas give off unusually high amounts of energy—far more than what XANA typically needs to launch an attack, but enough for him to possess a creature as large as Rodan." Jeremy slumped back into his seat, now looking visibly concerned.

A thought occurred to Yumi. "I heard on the news that Rodan might not be the only kaiju out there," she said. "Do you think XANA might try to take control of more of those things?"

"If the energy output levels of the Replikas we found are any indication, I think he already has," Jeremy answered gravely.

"I see…" Yumi acknowledged just as solemnly. "Isn't there _anything_ we can do to stop him?"

"Jeremy and I have been trying to come up with a way to reach the Replikas via the Digital Sea," Aelita replied, "but we still have no idea how to destroy them."

"Right," Jeremy confirmed. He let out a troubled sigh before continuing, "XANA has already killed so many people, so a return to the past won't do any good. And without Lyoko or a way to traverse the Digital Sea, we have no chance of destroying the Replikas. Nothing will be able to stop XANA from taking control of more kaiju. I—" Jeremy's voice faltered before he could finish, "I don't think there's anything we can do."

That last sentence struck Yumi hard. XANA had won? _This can't be happening!_ she thought to herself, in denial. Yet here they were now.

Jeremy went back to checking his computer. As Yumi watched him work from the display of her family's laptop, she noticed his eyes suddenly grow wide.

"What is it?" Yumi asked.

"There's a particular Replika that Aelita and I have been observing for a while," Jeremy answered. "Its energy levels have been greater than that of any other Replika we've found so far. But now—"

"They're off the charts!" exclaimed Aelita, who was now also closely watching the anomaly from over Jeremy's shoulder.

Jeremy nodded. "And they're varying in intensity," he went on. "It's seems like XANA is struggling to keep control of something…" the young genius' jaw abruptly dropped. "The Replika's power regulation systems have been compromised! It's becoming unstable!"

"Unstable?" Yumi questioned again, confused. "Care to explain, Einstein?"

"The Replika is overloaded with power…" said Aelita, who, almost in as much shock as Jeremy, paused briefly before stammering, "it—it just destroyed itself!"

Jeremy, barely able to contemplate what just happened, looked up. "It's almost as if whatever XANA was trying to control was far too powerful, even for him," he explained. "But _what_ , exactly?"

Yumi suddenly felt uneasy. She wasn't sure why, but the thought of there being a kaiju out there that could easily overcome XANA's possession was enough to make her feel apprehensive…

Suddenly, the laptop's monitor flickered, and her friends' faces promptly disappeared from the screen. "Jeremy? Aelita?" Yumi asked inquisitively.

The laptop's monitor responded by going dark, and then a red symbol—the eye of XANA—filled up the screen. Yumi took a step back, staring at the symbol in fear while the eye seemed to balefully glare back at her. Then the monitor shut off as the laptop died.

Before Yumi could comprehend what happened, she heard Hiroki's voice call out her name. _"Yumi! Come here and look at this!"_

Yumi opened the bathroom door and walked out, only to see Hiroki pointing at the TV. It was still tuned to news coverage of Rodan's attack on Tokyo. Except—as the camera panned across the damaged Tokyo skyline, the giant pterosaur was nowhere to be found. It didn't take long, however, for Yumi and Hiroki to find out why.

From offscreen, a reporter began to speak. Yumi and Hiroki knew enough Japanese from being around their parents to understand what she was saying: _"The Japan Self-Defense Forces have just confirmed that Rodan has just left Tokyo airspace, and is currently flying north at speeds exceeding Mach 3. Assuming the monster maintains its present course, it will arrive in Hokkaido in under ten minutes. The JSDF is urging residents of Sapporo to seek shelter immediately, preferably inside the subways…"_

"What should we do?" Hiroki asked his sister.

Yumi didn't answer at first. _I'm such a fool_ , she berated herself. By contacting Jeremy and Aelita, she had given away her location to XANA. There was no other explanation for Rodan's sudden departure from Tokyo—now that XANA knew she was in Sapporo, he had directed the kaiju to fly there with a chance to kill her, one of his enemies, as well as potentially hundreds of innocent people she had carelessly put in harm's way.

But there was no time for remorse. She had to get herself and Hiroki to safety before Rodan arrived. She also needed to find her parents, if possible. "Hiroki, we have to leave," Yumi finally responded. _"Now!"_

* * *

A massive, taloned pair of feet crushed the cell tower from above, snapping its steel trusswork like a toothpick. Rodan touched down on the ground, atop one of the mountains that flanked Sapporo to the west. He surveyed the cityscape, its many lights illuminating the otherwise dark evening sky. It was a much smaller metropolis than the one he had ravaged earlier today, but this was of no matter to him—he was here for a greater purpose than just indiscriminate destruction. As long as those pesky Lyoko Warriors were around, they posed a threat, however minimal, to XANA's plans. Now that Yumi had inadvertently made her presence known, the kaiju's primary task was to eliminate her.

Of course, Rodan himself was not actually aware of any of this. Like any other living being possessed by XANA, he was stuck in something of a trance—his senses and instincts had been corrupted by the A.I. when he seized control of him. Now Rodan, deprived of any form of free will, was little more than a very massive, flying slave of XANA.

With a loud screech, Rodan spread his reptilian wings and once again took flight, quickly accelerating past the speed of sound as he swooped down towards the city below. The resulting sonic boom, coupled with the hurricane-force winds from his wings, either damaged or destroyed any buildings that stood in his wake. Then he banked and turned towards downtown Sapporo, honing in on Yumi's location.

All this was done under the guidance of XANA. But if it were not for the influence of his new master, Rodan would have easily sensed a second large presence just like him, closing in from just off the northern coastline…

* * *

Yumi cursed under her breath as she put away her cell phone. "No signal," she told Hiroki. "I can't get in touch with Mom and Dad."

"Shouldn't we wait for them?" Hiroki asked. His normally childish conduct had since diminished, and he was now more serious and fearful as the threat of Rodan loomed.

"No, we should get to the subways while we can," his sister replied, also sounding increasingly concerned. "Rodan could be here at any minute; hopefully, they'll take shelter before he arrives.

"Now stay close to me, Hiroki. I don't want to lose you in this crowd." Hiroki understood—they were in the hotel's lobby now, and there were dozens of people gradually shuffling outside to take shelter in the subways. He took hold of Yumi's hand as she began to lead him through the dense crowd. Eventually, they managed to exit the hotel, only to find themselves among hundreds of other people on the streets who were similarly heading towards the nearest subway entrance.

It was then that Yumi heard it. She didn't notice it at first, but as it grew louder, she became aware of a constant, high-pitched squeal, almost like that of a jet's engines. As she listened, she realized with horror that the sound was coming from the _sky_. She glanced upward just in time to see a massive, dark figure, barely silhouetted against the nighttime sky, streak by overhead before disappearing. Had Yumi blinked, she would have easily missed it.

That was when all pandemonium broke loose.

 _BOOM._

Suddenly, an ear-shattering shockwave pierced through the air, almost as if a cannon had gone off. Yumi, Hiroki, and many others on the streets clutched their ears and collapsed to the ground in pain. At the same time, the windows of the buildings above them shattered all at once, causing millions of glass shards to rain down on the hapless people below.

Noticing this, Yumi grabbed Hiroki. _"Hiroki, get down!"_ she yelled, pushing her little brother to the ground and then using her body to shield his. It was just in time—the torrent of glass shards fell over top of them. When it subsided, Yumi and Hiroki rose from the ground, covered in fresh cuts, but otherwise uninjured.

Everyone on the streets was in a state of panic now. People were scrambling to their feet, trying desperately to take shelter in the subways.

"Come on," Yumi said to Hiroki, helping him up, "we have to get to the subways before— _oh, no…_ "

Yumi was once again gazing towards the sky. This time, she saw the gigantic, winged figure of Rodan much more clearly, as he swooped down towards them for another pass.

 _"Take cover!"_ Yumi yelled as she and Hiroki dove to the ground again. Rodan passed by overhead, but instead of another sonic boom, the winds suddenly began to pick up, and within seconds they were blowing with the force of a severe storm. Debris left from Rodan's first pass began to fly wildly across the street, and a few parked cars even skidded away by several feet.

Yumi tried to stand up in spite of the harsh winds. However, this proved to be a costly mistake—before she had time to react, she was struck squarely in the forehead by a hard piece of debris, knocking her back to the ground. As the winds died down, she clutched her forehead in pain, but then pulled her palm away when she realized with shock that it was soaked in her blood.

Yumi found herself laying face-up on the concrete, looking up towards the night sky and the tops of the skyscrapers around her. People were still rushing by her, trying to make it to the subway. Then Hiroki came into her view, standing over her, with tears in his eyes.

 _"Yumi!"_ Hiroki practically screamed, horrified by her injury. Then he grabbed her hand, trying hard to help her get up. _"Come on, sis, we have to get to the subway!"_

It was then that Yumi noticed a large red shape descend over them. With horror, she realized it was Rodan _again_. Hiroki also took notice, and became even more desperate to help get his sister to her feet.

Atop one of the buildings across the street from the two, Rodan landed with a loud _crunch_ , crushing the building's roof and sending more debris raining down onto the streets. Then, with an ear-piercing screech, he threw a malicious glare downward—right at Yumi and Hiroki. Yumi stared back at him, and noticed the eye of XANA once again flicker across his eyes. _So this is how it ends,_ she thought to herself. She had always figured XANA might eventually kill her somehow, but not once had it crossed her mind that he would do it with a giant pterosaur. Just the thought of it was so ridiculous that she might have found it funny if it weren't so cruel.

Fate, however, had other plans.

All of a sudden, a short but violent tremor shook the streets, causing Hiroki to fall to the ground next to her and Rodan to even stumble somewhat on top of his massive perch. As he recovered, the tremor returned, even more intense than before. The giant pterosaur looked to his side, and then turned away from Yumi and Hiroki, cackling angrily. Yumi sat up, trying to figure out what he was looking at—and gasped.

Towering over the buildings ahead of her was another massive, dark shape, even larger than Rodan. It didn't take Yumi long to realize that she was looking at _another_ kaiju. As she focused more on it, she saw that it resembled a gigantic carnivorous dinosaur, standing in a nearly-upright posture. She estimated it to be at least 100 meters tall. As it drew closer, Yumi was able to make out more details. It was charcoal-colored and muscular in appearance, and had sharp teeth and claws. Three distinct rows of large, jagged dorsal spikes lined the creature's back from its neck to its long tail, which the kaiju mostly dragged across the ground behind it, occasionally flicking it into the air like a colossal whip.

Suddenly, a pair of strong hands grabbed her arms, and Yumi realized that she was being dragged across the street by a stranger, with Hiroki trotting just behind her. "We're going to the subway, sis," he told her, trying to reassure her. "You're gonna be fine."

Yumi didn't answer. She was still staring at the new kaiju in awe. Then she saw another yet another detail that sent a chill down her spine: its eyes. They were a fiery orange, and with them the creature gave a furious glare—not at Yumi, but at Rodan.

As Hiroki and the stranger began to help Yumi down the stairs to the subway, she saw the giant pterosaur let out another angry screech, and then spread his wings and lunge towards the new kaiju. The last thing she heard before blacking out was the stranger mutter a Japanese word she had never heard before: _"Gojira."_

* * *

It had been over five decades since he last stepped foot in Japan. Unlike the last time he came here, he had no ill will towards humanity; he had long since come to terms with the fact that they were a part of this planet, just like him. In turn, they seemed to recognize the same regarding him and his kind, and as a result, they put an end to their horrendous nuclear testing—the very thing that had made him into what he was today. So he spent those next several years hibernating at the bottom of the Sea of Japan without anything to disturb him…until now.

He had been awakened when a strange, sinister force tried to take power over him. It corrupted his mind, deprived him of his natural instincts, and then ordered him to lay waste to humanity, as he had once done all those years ago. That was its first mistake: it tried to give him orders. Within his mind, he began to fight back, only to be met with resistance from the strange force. Another mistake. As it struggled against him, his resolve only continued to grow until finally, it gave up and relinquished what little hold it had left over him.

It didn't take long for him to realize that he wasn't the only one of his kind to have emerged from dormancy. Hundreds or even thousands of miles away, he sensed that many of his former compatriots had also woken up. Although he couldn't deduce why, he suspected it might have had something to do with the strange force that had tried to take control of him. So he decided to go and investigate, which was why he had now come to Sapporo.

Upon arriving in the Japanese city, he realized his suspicions appeared to be correct. Rodan, one of his longtime companions, was now ravaging the urban landscape for reasons unclear to him. Only when he had made his presence known did the giant pterosaur cease his attack and turn his attention to him. It was then that he noticed something wasn't right—Rodan greeted his old ally with hostility, and an unfamiliar symbol seemed to flicker across his eyes periodically.

His lips curled into a snarl, revealing teeth the size of cars. This strange force, whatever it was, seemed to have succeeded in taking control of Rodan where it had failed to the same to him. Then the giant pterosaur stretched out his wings and cackled angrily.

He growled in response. This was no ordinary cry of protest. It was a _challenge_.

He assumed a fighting stance. He did not wish to hurt Rodan, but if this strange force intended to use his own kind against him, then so be it. It was then that he made a vow: no matter what the cost, he would fight it. Somehow, he decided, he would make it pay for taking control of his companions and then trying to do the same to him. And above all, absolutely _nothing_ would stop him until he had exacted vengeance on this thing, whatever it was.

For he was the King of the Monsters.

He was Godzilla.

* * *

 **There you have it—my first crossover story. I've been a big Godzilla fan for several years, though not quite as long as I've been a big _Code Lyoko_ fan. So it was only natural that I decided to put them together, haha. I hope you enjoy this. And please leave a review; I'd greatly appreciate that! :) (Reviews by fellow FF members will be responded to in private messages; reviews by guest users will be responded to at the end of the next chapter.)**


	2. Chapter 2: A World of Kaiju

**Wow, this story already has five reviews! Thanks a lot, everyone! I'll reply to the reviews I've gotten so far in the author's note below this chapter. I hope you all didn't have to wait too horribly long to see this next chapter of my story—I don't plan on making subsequent chapters nearly as long as the first, so hopefully, my update schedule should go a bit more smoothly.**

* * *

 _Sapporo, Japan_

Spanning fifteen blocks across downtown Sapporo, Odori Park was one of the city's most popular landmarks. For decades, it had been a place of enjoyment for locals and tourists alike, providing them some respite from the bustling metropolis surrounding it. Additionally, it was the home of the 147-meter-tall Sapporo TV Tower, which stood proudly at the park's eastern end.

It was also the source of a sound that hadn't been heard in over fifty years.

 _SKREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEOOOOONNNK!_

The roar was so loud that it shattered windows in the immediate vicinity, and could be heard from several miles away as it reverberated off the distant mountains and across the Hokkaido countryside. For those who heard it, they knew it could only mean one thing.

Godzilla, the King of the Monsters, had returned.

The nuclear leviathan stood near the middle of the park, glaring furiously at his adversary several blocks away: Rodan. For generations, the giant pterosaur had been a close companion of Godzilla, often coming to his assistance even when he didn't really need it. But now, for reasons beyond Godzilla's understanding, Rodan had been possessed by a strange, sinister being, forcing Godzilla to do battle with his former ally.

At just seventy meters tall, Rodan was shorter than Godzilla, but what he lacked in his opponent's immense size and strength, he made up for with his incredible speed and agility. On the other hand, however, Godzilla very seldom lost a fight, and he had no plans of doing so tonight.

This would not end well.

With an ear-piercing squawk, Rodan stretched out his arms and began to rapidly flap his wings in Godzilla's direction. Within seconds, hurricane-force winds were buffeting against Godzilla's scaly hide. They were so strong that they lifted even the heaviest debris on the ground—cars, trees, statues, et cetera—and sent them hurtling towards the leviathan at hundreds of miles per hour. Despite this, the comparatively small objects did little more than bounce off of Godzilla's stocky frame, and the winds did not push him back even slightly.

With a displeased squawk, the possessed Rodan decided it was time to get physical. His wings still outstretched, he sprang from the ground, taking flight before swooping down towards Godzilla, baring his sharp talons. Before he could strike, however, Godzilla used his dexterous, four-fingered hands to grab hold of Rodan's legs, and suddenly the two kaiju were locked in a titanic grappling match, each one trying to gain an advantage over the other.

Rodan let out another frustrated screech as he flapped his wings madly, trying to escape Godzilla's grasp, but to no avail. With an immense show of strength, the nuclear leviathan pulled the giant pterosaur downward, allowing Godzilla to lean forward and bite his opponent's winged arm. Rodan cried out in agony as he began to struggle more, resorting to smashing his pointed beak into Godzilla's head like a woodpecker until it struck the radioactive saurian's eye.

Howling in pain, Godzilla released Rodan's arm from his maw, giving the flying reptile the opportunity to clutch onto Godzilla's arms with his talons. Then, still flapping his wings, he began to _lift_ his opponent off the ground—an impressive feat considering Godzilla weighed over 60,000 tons. Fortunately for Godzilla, however, his immense weight proved to be too much for Rodan, and the latter could only lift him some fifty feet from the ground before having to drop him.

Godzilla landed on his feet, generating a severe tremor that caused some of the weakened buildings around him to collapse. He rubbed his injured eye, then began to look around. Rodan had disappeared from sight. Godzilla snarled, realizing his opponent must have taken to the air. His orange eyes scanned the night sky, searching for any sign of the giant pterosaur. Then he felt a pair of talons latch on to his tail, and all of a sudden he was pulled off his feet, wailing as he tumbled to the ground.

Rodan had reappeared, now dragging Godzilla by the tail across Odori Park. At the park's western end, Rodan released his grip on the nuclear leviathan and flew off, sending his body skidding into the surrounding cityscape, which crushed the buildings that stood in his path. Growling in frustration, Godzilla righted himself and began to rise back up, but was promptly sent crashing to the ground again when Rodan swooped down for another pass, slamming his spiked torso into Godzilla's before once again retreating into the darkness.

Godzilla finally managed to get to his feet. Looking around, he still couldn't see his adversary hidden in the night sky, but soon realized he didn't need to—he could easily hear the signature squeal of Rodan's wings in the distance as they pierced through the air at supersonic speeds. Godzilla listened carefully to the sound as it steadily grew louder, trying his best to judge where it was coming from, and how fast his opponent was flying before—

The radioactive saurian suddenly ducked. At the same time, he swung his long, whip-like tail upward into the air at a lightning speed.

 _WHACK._

Godzilla's timing was spot-on. His tail struck Rodan's wing as he flew overhead for another attack. Crying out in pain, the giant pterosaur immediately lost control of his transonic flight. The resulting crash landing was not a pleasant one—Rodan violently slammed into the ground head-first before plowing across the entire length of Odori Park, only to come to an abrupt halt when his massive body tumbled into the Sapporo TV Tower at the end of the park, toppling the once-proud structure in a matter of seconds. Now lying on the Tower's remnants, Rodan could do little more but warble weakly in defeat.

At the other end of the park, Godzilla roared triumphantly. Normally at this time, he would have finished his downed opponent while he had the chance. But Rodan was supposed to be his ally, and it was obvious to him that the giant pterosaur was not being himself because of this strange force—as a result, Godzilla was hesitant to inflict any further injury to him. Instead, Godzilla slowly lumbered towards Rodan to check if the flying reptile was truly down for the count.

Suddenly, Rodan's eyes opened, and Godzilla saw the unfamiliar, eye-like symbol flash across his pupils once again. Rodan swiftly rose and got back to his feet, letting out a defiant screech at the nuclear leviathan. Godzilla roared again in response, expecting a continuation of their fight. To his surprise, however, Rodan quickly turned around and took flight in the opposite direction, retreating towards the sea.

Godzilla's orange eyes narrowed as Rodan flew off. Then, within moments, he, too, started to make his way back towards the coast, following Rodan's path. Whatever plans this strange force had for his fellow kaiju, Godzilla was intent on putting a stop to it.

* * *

Yumi woke up in the hotel's lobby.

She didn't recognize the place at first; the entire floor space had been converted into a makeshift triage for those that had been injured in the carnage overnight. Several rows of medical cots, including the one she now lay in, had replaced the scattered furniture in the lobby, and several nurses whisked their way between them, tending to her fellow patients—many of whom had suffered worse injuries than she had.

Remembering her injury, Yumi sat up and clutched her forehead. Where there had been a severe gash was now covered by a large bandage. She looked up to find a TV hanging from one of the lobby's walls, tuned to the local news. She watched in horror as the wrecked skyline of Sapporo filled up the screen, looking very similar to what she had seen of Rodan's rampage in Tokyo the day before—minus the giant pterosaur himself.

Rodan. What had happened to that massive flying monster, anyway? Yumi couldn't remember. What she _did_ remember before fainting, however, was that second kaiju that had arrived during Rodan's assault. And how could she forget it? The image of its gigantic, darkly-colored physique towering over the surrounding buildings, the maple leaf-shaped spikes protruding from its back, and—above all—its orange, seemingly infuriated eyes was permanently etched into Yumi's memory.

" _Yumi!"_

Yumi turned her head and saw Hiroki and their mother approaching, looking concerned. Both of them stopped and sat down next to her cot.

"How is your head?" Mrs. Ishiyama asked her daughter.

"It's still sore, but other than that, I'm fine," Yumi answered, still holding her forehead. She turned to Hiroki. "How about you?"

"Just some cuts here and there from those windows you shielded me from," Hiroki replied. "Thanks for that, by the way." Yumi noticed he had a few bandages on his forehead and arms, but none of them were nearly as big as hers.

"We were really worried about you both," Mrs. Ishiyama continued. "When that flying monster attacked, we were immediately told to go the subways; the hotel staff wouldn't let us wait for you."

"Why did that giant pterodactyl come here, anyway?" Hiroki asked. "And what about that other kaiju that came and fought it?"

Mrs. Ishiyama sighed in response. "I think that's a question better suited for your uncle." She shifted her gaze across the lobby.

Yumi looked in that direction to find that her father was approaching with another man in tow. The other man stood taller than her father, and looked considerably younger as well. It was the sight of this second man that caused Yumi's eyes to widen in joy. "Uncle Hiroshi!" she called out to him.

Promptly, Hiroshi Ogata left his brother-in-law's side and rushed to Yumi, greeting his beloved niece with a tight embrace, which she returned.

"How are you feeling, _Yumi-chan_?" Ogata asked her in fluent French, although he still addressed her with Japanese honorifics out of habit.

"A lot better now that you're here, _ojisan_." Yumi replied, grinning. "You haven't changed one bit since I last saw you."

"Ah, but you've changed a _lot_ ," Ogata responded back, sitting down on the vacant cot next to her.

"When did you get here, anyway? Weren't you in Tokyo when Rodan attacked?"

Ogata nodded. "When I found out that your flight had been diverted to Sapporo, I tried to get here as quickly as I could. I spent all of last night on a train, but our arrival was still delayed—nobody expected Rodan to suddenly come to Hokkaido. Your father only came to pick me up from the station half an hour ago."

"I thought it was crazy enough when Rodan came here," Hiroki joined in, "but then that other monster showed up and beat him up—you should've seen that, Uncle Hiroshi! I think it had a name, too—Gor-jee-ro, or something like that."

Ogata's face fell suddenly. _"Gojira,"_ he corrected his nephew grimly.

Yumi looked up at him, surprised. "You know about that thing?"

Ogata nodded again. "Half of the people in this country know about him," he said. "Outside Japan, he is called Godzilla."

"Godzilla?" Yumi asked, recognizing the name. "You mean that thing that attacked Tokyo back in the Fifties? _That's_ what we saw last night?"

"Well, yes and no," Ogata answered, eliciting a confused look from his niece. "The monster that first attacked Tokyo back then was a member of the same species, but a different individual entirely."

"But where did they come from?" Yumi inquired.

Ogata said nothing for a few moments; instead, he stared blankly towards the ceiling, as though he were collecting his thoughts. Finally, he took a deep breath and began to explain: "During the Fifties, the United States was testing nuclear bombs in the Pacific. In 1954, one of them awakened something—the first Godzilla.

"The monster had been badly injured and mutated by the radioactive fallout from the test. It attacked Tokyo in retaliation, destroying over half of the city and killing nearly 200,000 people. It was Japan's worst disaster since the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki—not even the best weaponry of the time could deal any harm to the creature."

"How did they stop Godzilla?" Yumi asked.

"As it turned out, a chemist named Daisuke Serizawa had inadvertently created a chemical weapon called the Oxygen Destroyer," Ogata responded. "When he saw the devastation that Godzilla left behind in Tokyo, he decided to use it to kill the monster in Tokyo Bay. However, Serizawa was so horrified by the destructive power of his creation that he took his own life so that he wouldn't be able to create another.

"Sadly, though, Serizawa's sacrifice was in vain. Within a year, another Godzilla—much bigger and even more powerful than the first—appeared and raided Osaka. The Self-Defense Forces were later able to bury him inside an iceberg, but he broke free just a few years later; nothing has been able to stop him ever since."

"I see," Yumi acknowledged. "What about Rodan and the other kaiju that were mentioned on the news?"

"I was just getting to that," Ogata said. "In 1955, the same year that Godzilla re-emerged, a second kaiju called Anguirus also appeared. The two fought each other using Osaka as a battleground. Godzilla was victorious, while Anguirus just barely managed to limp back into the sea. Other kaiju soon followed; Rodan first emerged from Mount Aso in 1956, and was driven out of Japan by the Self-Defense Forces shortly after. As the years passed, even more kaiju began to appear all over the globe—Varan, Baragon, and Manda, to name a few."

Yumi listened to her uncle attentively, her interest—and horror—growing greater by the second. She hadn't known about it until now, but the Earth was home to numerous giant monsters. That in itself was a revelation she struggled to come to terms with. And not only had XANA known about it, but he had also found a way to use them as weapons against humanity…somehow, he _needed_ to be stopped. Yumi could only hope that Jeremy was wrong and that he and Aelita could determine how to beat the A.I.

Yumi continued to listen as Ogata finished his narrative. "Eventually, the various governments of the world figured out that they would have to band together in order to combat the threat that the kaiju posed. Shortly after the first Godzilla's attack in 1954, they agreed to form a dedicated kaiju-fighting organization in the U.N. known as G-Force. They also agreed to ban all nuclear testing in 1966.

"Since then, very few kaiju attacks have occurred—with no nuclear bombs to disturb them, many of them have been dormant for the past several decades. Until now, that is. Apparently, something is waking them up again. But what, exactly?"

Obviously, Yumi knew the answer to her uncle's rhetorical question. But it was of the utmost importance to her and her friends to keep their struggle against XANA a secret—being the only ones who were able to fight him, they couldn't afford to risk exposure and possible arrest by the authorities. Because of this, Yumi held her tongue.

Shortly after Ogata finished talking, a ringing sound abruptly chimed from his pocket. Pulling out and looking at his cell phone, he answered it and began to speak to the caller in Japanese. The conversation was a brief one; less than a minute passed before he hung up and put the phone back in his pocket. He sighed deeply.

"What's the matter, Uncle Hiroshi?" asked Hiroki.

"One of my bosses just called me," Ogata answered. "When Rodan attacked Tokyo yesterday, he caused severe damage to the Geological Institute's offices there, where I work. Until they can be repaired, I am to be transferred to our sub-branch in Osaka."

Yumi's heart sank. "You mean you can't stay?" she asked sadly.

Ogata sighed again. "I'm afraid not. I wish I could, but the demands of my job are just too strong, even during an emergency such as this."

There was that word again— _demands_. What kind of demands were there for a geologist for a time like this, anyway? Yumi realized that her uncle was one of the most prominent geologists in Japan, so it made sense for him to be very busy. _But I highly doubt that his job description mentioned anything about giant monsters,_ she thought.

"And speaking of this emergency," Ogata continued, "Japan is no longer a safe place for visitors now that kaiju like Godzilla and Rodan have returned. I've spoken with your parents, and they agree with me. You all will be heading back to France tomorrow morning."

Ogata hugged Yumi again. "I'm really sorry I can't stay with you," he said. "I was really looking forward to spending time with you again after all these years."

"So was I," Yumi responded sorrowfully, returning the hug. "Just promise me I'll be able to see you again soon."

"I promise." With that, Ogata separated himself from his niece and, after exchanging similar goodbyes with the rest of his family, left the hotel.

* * *

 _Paris Metropolitan Area, France_

The Ishiyamas had returned to their home much earlier than they had anticipated. Spending the rest of the week in her house instead of Japan made Spring Break go by a lot faster for Yumi than she would have liked. Now it was Saturday, and school would resume in just two days. It was almost time for her to go back to her daily routine of hanging out and having fun with her friends, all while trying to deal with the stress that came with trying to maintain good grades. _And fighting XANA,_ she mentally added to herself.

The new threat that the A.I. posed had been on Yumi's mind ever since that night in Sapporo. Remembering what her uncle had told her about Godzilla and the other kaiju, she didn't want to stand idly by while XANA used them to annihilate the world's most populated cities—and she knew that her friends wouldn't want to, either. So she decided to call Jeremy again to see if he had anything new to report since then.

Jeremy's first announcement was promising. _"Aelita and I have just about finished rebuilding Lyoko,"_ his voice told Yumi from the speaker of her cell phone. _"We should be able to entirely restore all five sectors to the supercomputer by Monday."_

"That's fantastic," Yumi replied. "You really spent all your vacation time to rebuild it?"

 _"Oh, don't worry, Yumi,"_ Aelita's voice chimed in from the other end. _"I was able to convince him to take breaks every now and then. Isn't that right, Jeremy?"_

 _"Oh, um…yeah, Aelita,"_ Jeremy stuttered in response, apparently sounding…embarrassed? Yumi wasn't sure, but she decided not to press the issue.

"What about the Digital Sea?" she asked.

 _"We've been able to make significant progress on that as well,"_ Jeremy answered. _"However, it will be a couple of weeks before we'll be able to travel to the Replikas. Which reminds me—I think I've come up with a way to destroy them."_

"You _have_?" Yumi nearly exclaimed excitedly. _That means we still have a chance to beat XANA!_

 _"Yes,"_ Jeremy confirmed. _"Aelita and I still need some time to iron out the kinks, though. I'll tell you, Odd, and Ulrich more about it on Monday after we restore Lyoko."_

"Sounds like a plan," Yumi acknowledged. "I just hope XANA doesn't send any more kaiju to attack us here in France."

 _"Don't worry about it, Yumi,"_ Jeremy reassured her. _"All of the kaiju that have been sighted so far have been all the way on the other side of the world, in the Western Pacific. That being said, though—"_ he paused momentarily before finishing, _"I think it's only a matter of time before XANA does send one here to deal with us."_

Jeremy's prediction sent a chill down Yumi's spine. From this point forward, fighting XANA would be nothing like it used to be. Unless they could defeat him quickly, nothing would be able to stop the A.I. from summoning more kaiju elsewhere in the world—including their own homes.

It would be a race against time.

* * *

 **That does it for Chapter 2, the second of three "introductory" chapters before we start to delve deeper into this story. Hopefully, the fight between Godzilla and Rodan didn't disappoint! I also understand that this chapter was pretty heavy on dialogue, but I wanted to give you an idea of what the _Godzilla_ timeline looks like for the purposes of this story. As you can see, only a select few of the early Showa movies are considered "canon" here (namely the original _Gojira_ from 1954, _Godzilla Raids Again_ , and _Mothra vs. Godzilla_ ; as well as a few non-Godzilla films that introduced other kaiju, like _Rodan_ and _Varan the Unbelievable_ ). I hope you enjoyed this chapter regardless!**

* * *

 **And now I will reply to the reviews I've gotten for the first chapter:**

 **Guest: Thanks for being the first to review! To the best of my knowledge, no one has created a _Code Lyoko_ / _Godzilla_ crossover before, so I thought I would be the first. I'll try my best to continue this story, but it'll be tough since I'll have a lot of college work to do.**

 **MadameMirage77: Thanks for your kind words! As for your questions, the only one I'm willing to answer without potentially spoiling any future content is your last one. The Godzilla I'm using for this story is a composite of some of his past incarnations. His backstory here is similar to that of his Showa incarnation, while his behavior is a bit like that of his Heisei version. In terms of appearance, he looks like something of a cross between his Heisei (he is 100 meters tall in this story) and Final Wars designs. Finally, while he's not exactly heroic like he was in the late Showa era ( _Destroy All Monsters_ onwards), he's not inherently aggressive towards humans, either (unless they provoke him). Also, don't be surprised to see some parallels to the IDW comics, like _Rulers of Earth_.**

 **Matt: Thanks, I'll try to get to the next chapter as soon as possible! As for your question...again, that's something I'm not ready to disclose just yet, unfortunately.**

* * *

 **IMPORTANT: From this point forward, I will be replying to all future reviews as they come in at the end of the most recent chapter.**

 **MadameMirage77: Thanks for another review! I only slightly edited the title to include _Godzilla_ in it as well, so it wouldn't look like this story would have much more to do with _Code Lyoko_ than Goji and his fellow kaiju. While I am gearing this story more towards _Lyoko_ fans, I also want to attract G-Fans who might not know that much about _CL_. I just want to make sure both elements are well-balanced. :)**

 **Matt: I'm glad you enjoyed it. I hope to get Chapter 3 uploaded soon. :)**

 **MadameMirage77 (2): Glad to see you're rewatching _CL_! To answer your question about Godzilla's radiation, I haven't exactly put a lot of thought into it, but in this story, he won't render everywhere he goes an irradiated wasteland like he did in the 1954 original. He will, however, have his signature atomic breath. :) As for _Code Lyoko Evolution_...I have heard of it, and seen it. A lot of _CL_ fans don't like it due to the 2D animated segments being replaced by live action, but I honestly don't mind it. Go ahead and watch it; I'll leave it up to you to decide whether you like it or not.**

 **ReginaDC21: Thanks for the review! I'm actually in the process of re-reading IDW's Godzilla comics for potential ideas, but that's one I didn't think of. If anything, that's probably going to be how I'll treat Goji's radiation in this story. :)**

 **Mick: Thanks! And don't worry, I'm still working on Chapter 3, although it hasn't been a simple task so far...**

 **I'll regularly update this section of the chapter with a response to each review I receive. Watch this space.**


	3. Chapter 3: New Allies

**Finally, the third chapter has been finished in its entirety! Thank you for being so patient while I've been writing this. Since I'm in college now, I can't say for sure when the fourth chapter will be published, but it will be a lot more action-packed than these first three introductory chapters, so it might take a while...**

 **In any case, I hope you enjoy this latest chapter!**

* * *

 _Paris Metropolitan Area, France_

Just before lunchtime, the five Lyoko Warriors met up in the depths of the abandoned factory that overlooked the Seine. It was from here that they carried out their fight against XANA—or at least they had, until the A.I. dealt them a devastating defeat.

The last time they were all here, they had just admitted a new member to their group: William. With XANA getting more and more aggressive, the five teens thought it would be beneficial to have another member around to fight him. But disaster struck on William's first foray to Lyoko—what had started off as a routine mission to defend Lyoko's Core took a turn for the worst when XANA captured and possessed him. In the end, despite their best efforts, the Lyoko Warriors could only watch helplessly as William—under XANA's command—delivered the killing blow to the Core, destroying Lyoko and leaving the boy imprisoned somewhere on the network.

That was then.

Now, for the first time since Lyoko was destroyed, Aelita, Jeremy, Odd, Ulrich, and Yumi had all returned to their secret hideout in the factory's lower levels, which housed the supercomputer and all of its components. Jeremy sat in the chair in front of the supercomputer's interface, while his four friends stood gathered around him. None of them spoke a word to each other; rather, it was almost as if they were waiting for something…

A pinging sound from the interface broke the silence. On cue, Jeremy typed a few commands into it, and then let out a sigh of relief.

"And there you have it," he announced proudly. "The new-and-improved Lyoko is now fully online!"

"'New-and-improved'?" Ulrich asked incredulously.

"After Lyoko was destroyed, Aelita and I had a unique opportunity to rebuild it almost entirely from scratch," Jeremy explained. "With help from some of the data that Franz Hopper sent us over the network, we've made several changes to Lyoko that should make fighting XANA a lot easier for us all."

"What kind of changes?" asked Yumi.

"For starters, remember that pesky countdown we had to deal with every time we went to Sector Five?" responded Aelita, smiling. "Gone for good."

"That's a relief," said Odd. "I always hated having to avoid being turned into a pancake every time we went there. What else have you changed, Einstein?"

"Aelita and I figured that, once we rebuilt Lyoko, XANA would only try to destroy it again and send us back to square one," Jeremy answered. "So when we recreated it, we made several modifications to make it more secure for us."

"We've essentially converted Lyoko into an armed fortress," Aelita elaborated. "Jeremy and I added a protective firewall and other defensive measures to keep XANA and his monsters out of Lyoko entirely."

"Wait a minute," began Yumi, "does that mean we don't have to worry about deactivating towers anymore?"

"Correct," confirmed Jeremy. "At least, not on Lyoko. Remember that XANA is still manifesting several Replikas all over the network, so we'll still have to use our skills to beat him and his monsters, the same way we did on Lyoko. And speaking of the Replikas...let's not forget that XANA has been using them to wake up and take control of kaiju around the world."

Of course, there was no way the Lyoko Warriors could forget the problem that was at hand—Yumi still had the scars to prove it, after all. Earlier in the day, she had been swarmed by dozens of her classmates who had heard about her harrowing encounter with Rodan and Godzilla in Sapporo. Milly and Tamiya had even tried to interview her about it for their school newspaper, only to give up after Yumi bluntly informed them that she had been unconscious and remembered nothing about her near-death experience.

"Ever since Rodan and Godzilla appeared and fought each other in Sapporo," Jeremy went on, "Aelita and I have been extensively probing the Replikas to try and figure out what they're like. Apparently, each one is a carbon copy of a sector from Lyoko. And, most importantly of all, XANA has activated each and every tower on them."

"That's how he's able to control the kaiju," added Aelita. "Usually, whenever XANA launched an attack, he would activate only one tower on Lyoko, because that was all he needed. But it seems that possessing those huge creatures takes a lot more energy than what he normally uses, so he has to activate several towers at once in order to do it."

"So I take it our goal is to destroy the Replikas and free the kaiju?" Ulrich inquired.

At first, Jeremy only answered Ulrich with a grimace. "Our goal is to destroy the Replikas so we can ultimately beat XANA," he finally responded. "Our job is fighting _him_ , not those giant monsters."

"But he's using the Replikas to control them!" Yumi protested. "Our number one priority should be to free the kaiju from XANA—that way, they'll stop destroying our cities!"

"We don't know that!" Jeremy countered harshly, although upon noticing Yumi's startled reaction, he quickly regained his composure. "I'm sorry, Yumi," he apologized, "but even if we do manage to free the kaiju, how should we know that they won't continue to destroy cities now that XANA's woken them up? Remember that Replika that destroyed itself while you were in Japan?"

"What about it?" Yumi questioned.

"Aelita and I ran some diagnostics after we got back," Jeremy answered, "and we discovered that this was, in fact, XANA's attempt to take control of Godzilla."

The other Lyoko Warriors' eyes widened in surprise, and they exchanged glances with each other.

"So you mean to say that Godzilla is _not_ under XANA's control?" Yumi asked.

"That's correct, Yumi," Aelita responded. "He resisted strongly when XANA tried to use the Replika to gain control of him—hence those varying power levels. All that stress was too much for the Replika to take; it's almost as if he destroyed it using nothing but sheer willpower."

"That also explains why Rodan fought him in Sapporo," Odd chimed in. "If they'd both been controlled by XANA, Godzilla wouldn't have driven his comrade off."

"Exactly," Jeremy confirmed, turning his seat back towards the interface. "Still, the point stands that XANA awakened Godzilla when he tried to take control of him. Godzilla has ravaged Japan before—who's to say he won't do it again?"

 _"You must free Earth's Defenders,"_ a pair of high-pitched, feminine voices interjected.

Hearing the voices, Jeremy swiveled his chair around to face Aelita and Yumi, staring at them blankly. In response, the two girls traded confused glances with each other.

"Jeremy, we didn't say that," Aelita told him.

"Then who—?" Jeremy began, puzzled, before the two voices interrupted again.

 _"You must free Earth's Defenders,"_ they repeated.

"Look at that!" Odd suddenly exclaimed, pointing at the holographic projector in the center of the Lab. The other Lyoko Warriors looked at what he was pointing at…and they got the shock of their lives.

Standing on the rim of the projector were a pair of identical women, each one appearing to be in their early twenties. They wore the same garments, which looked as if they had come from a tribe in the Pacific Islands. But perhaps the most surprising aspect about them was the fact that they were very, _very_ small—each one stood no more than twenty centimeters tall. They held hands with one other as they looked up at the approaching Lyoko Warriors.

"Am—Am I hallucinating?" stammered Ulrich, dumbfounded.

"We assure you that your eyes are not deceiving you," the small women said in almost startling unison. "This is very real."

"Then who are you?" inquired Yumi.

"We have many names," the women replied. "You may call us the Shobijin. We are the priestesses who serve the Goddess Mothra."

"Mothra?" asked Aelita.

"She, like her fellow Defenders of Earth, is what you call a kaiju," the Shobijin explained, though they could tell that this did little to clear the Lyoko Warriors' confusion.

"We realize that you are perplexed by these recent developments," one of Shobijin said.

"Let us take you to Infant Island so that it may be easier for you to understand," the other finished.

Before the Lyoko Warriors had a chance to question further, the Shobijin promptly knelt down, bowing their heads and closing their eyes, almost as if they were praying. All of a sudden, they began to glow brightly, forcing the Lyoko Warriors to shield their eyes. Then the glow faded just as quickly as it appeared, allowing the Lyoko Warriors to reopen their eyes.

Looking around, the Lyoko Warriors were bewildered to discover that they were no longer in the Lab—it appeared that, almost as if by magic, they had been transported to the inside of a large cave. The Shobijin were nowhere to be found, but in front of them, they could see a bright light, which they assumed led to the cave's exit. Sure enough, as the Lyoko Warriors approached the source of the light, they soon found themselves out of the cave and inside a much larger cavern. Here, sunlight poured in freely through a spacious hole in the ceiling. It illuminated a small pond—a spring of some kind?—as well as several tropical flowers and trees growing around it.

While it was a beautiful sight, the Lyoko Warriors ignored it; what lay beyond the spring gave them an even _bigger_ shock than the Shobijin had.

Sitting on a large, stone plinth across the cavern from the Lyoko Warriors was a massive, multicolored egg. And perched atop the egg was, for lack of a better term, a gigantic moth.

The five teens stared at the spectacle, once again finding it hard to believe their eyes. The moth seemed to stare back at them with its sapphire compound eyes, and the Lyoko Warriors could feel a light breeze as it gently fluttered its orange, yellow, and black wings. A group of people—Pacific Islanders, just like the Shobijin, albeit normally-sized—were bowing down before the plinth, apparently worshipping both the moth and the egg. In turn, they were comfortably shielded from the blazing hot sun by the moth's enormous wings, which together easily spanned over 100 meters across.

"This must be the Mothra that those two girls were talking about," commented Yumi.

"Yes, Yumi, this is Mothra," the Shobijin responded.

Surprised, Yumi glanced to her right, only to find the Shobijin had reappeared, now standing atop a small boulder.

"How—How do you know my name?" Yumi stammered.

"We have been watching the five of you for a very long time," one of the Shobijin answered. "We are well aware of your struggle against the entity you call XANA."

"It is for this reason that we now ask for your help," the other continued. "As you know already, your enemy has enslaved Earth's Defenders, and is using them to spread death and destruction all over the world."

"I still don't understand," said Aelita. "Why do you call the kaiju 'Earth's Defenders'?"

"They have inhabited this planet for millions of years," the Shobijin replied. "It is their duty to defend it from those who wish to destroy it. If not for them, humanity would have never come to fruition."

"That doesn't make any sense," argued Jeremy. "They've wreaked havoc before—long before XANA came into being. What difference does it make now that he's taken control of them?"

"You must not judge them too harshly," the Shobijin responded. "Please follow us."

With that, the miniature girls descended from the boulder and went into the cave that the Lyoko Warriors first emerged from. Unsure of the Shobijin's intentions, the five teens went back into the cave. It wasn't long before they once again saw sunlight ahead of them, and they exited the cave shortly after.

The Lyoko Warriors now found themselves on a sandy beach, which, at first, looked exactly like what one would expect from the Pacific Islands. But as the teens surveyed their surroundings, they noticed that something was very wrong: there were no trees or plants to be seen. The entire landscape was barren and lifeless—a stark contrast from the greenery-covered cavern where they had first encountered Mothra and the natives.

"What happened to all the trees?" Odd asked the Shobijin, who were now standing just a few feet from where the ocean's waves sloshed against the edge of the beach.

"For millennia, our island was covered in lush rainforests and many different animals," the Shobijin answered. "There used to be more people as well. But then, just a few decades ago, our home was used as a testing ground for nuclear weapons, which decimated almost all of our flora and fauna. The only place that continues to support life is the spring where you arrived."

This revelation left the Lyoko Warriors stunned. They had all learned about the destructive impacts of nuclear weapons in school, but to actually see these impacts firsthand made them realize that words couldn't do justice to describe just how truly horrifying these weapons' destructive power was. Worse still, the teens realized, it seemed that the native people who they saw worshipping Mothra had to _live_ with this—what had once been their beautiful home was now little more than a desolate wasteland in the middle of the ocean.

"It was destructive weapons like these that caused Earth's Defenders to awaken from their lengthy slumber," the Shobijin went on. "They lashed out at mankind in retribution, believing their home to be under attack once again. When humanity realized this, they quickly stopped their nuclear testing.

"Since then, Earth's Defenders have rested peacefully. But now, your enemy has awakened them once more, and is using them as agents of evil against their will. We beg you to free them from XANA so they may return to their peaceful nature. If not, millions more will surely die at their hands."

When the Shobijin finished, the Lyoko Warriors traded glances with one another, contemplating the Shobijin's plea.

"There are still some things I don't understand," said Ulrich, breaking the silence between the five teens. "How is it that XANA hasn't taken control of Mothra? And why can't she fight the kaiju herself?"

"Mothra is the most divine of Earth's Defenders," one of the Shobijin answered. "She is immune to XANA's corruption."

Both of the small women's faces fell as the other continued, "She is also nearing the end of her present life. If she were to fight any one of Earth's Defenders in her current state, she would almost certainly perish."

"There is, however, one who _will_ fight those who XANA has possessed," both now stated in unison. Then, turning to face Yumi, they said to her slowly, "You have already seen him once."

"Godzilla?" Yumi asked, surprised.

The Shobijin nodded. "Godzilla is the mightiest of Earth's Defenders," they said. "He does not take kindly to those who threaten this planet or its inhabitants—your enemy is no exception. He will stop at _nothing_ to fight any threat that XANA poses to them."

"So we have a common enemy," Jeremy acknowledged.

"Yes," one of the Shobijin confirmed. "Godzilla is as much of a threat to your enemy's schemes as you are. But even he can only do so much to stop him without his fellow Defenders of Earth. XANA knows this, and he will surely try to eliminate him."

"If Godzilla falls, then all will be lost," continued the other woman grimly. "That is why you must help free Earth's Defenders. If they are freed, they will join the fight against XANA— _your_ fight."

The Shobijin fell silent, and once again, the Lyoko Warriors exchanged glances with each other. This was a lot of new information for them to take in. Not only had Godzilla been able to escape being possessed by XANA, but he was now fighting the A.I. himself, just like they were. And these other kaiju who hadn't been so lucky—if what the Shobijin said was true, then freeing them would cause them to do the same. On the other hand, however, they were still giant monsters. There was no guaranteeing just how much good freeing them from XANA's control would do. Were the Shobijin being dishonest? Would the kaiju only continue to destroy cities on their own accord?

The five teens weighed these pros and cons carefully. The risks were great, but again, so were the potential benefits. What mattered, most, however, was defeating XANA before he could take more innocent lives. After receiving approving looks from his four friends, Jeremy turned to the Shobijin.

"All right," he agreed. "We promise to do everything in our power to free the kaiju from XANA's control."

The Shobijin beamed with delight. "Then from this day forward," they said, "Mothra, Godzilla, and any of Earth's Defenders you free from XANA are your allies." The miniature girls began to glow again. "Thank you."

Once more, the light radiating from the Shobijin became too much for the Lyoko Warriors to stand, and they had to shield their eyes. Then, just like the last time, it faded, and the Lyoko Warriors opened their eyes to find that they were back in the Lab.

"Okay…does anybody mind telling me what the heck _that_ was all about?" stammered Odd, clearly flabbergasted by the strange encounter with the Shobijin.

"One thing's for sure," said Jeremy, who was also visibly dazed by the experience, "unless we all suddenly fell asleep and had the exact same dream, whatever it was that we saw was real."

Just then, Ulrich noticed something hanging from Yumi's neck. "Hey, Yumi, where did that necklace come from?" he asked.

"What?" Yumi responded confusedly, feeling her neck. "I don't wear a— _necklace?_ " It was at that moment that Yumi felt the unfamiliar, metallic object hanging from her neck. She grasped it and held it up for her to see.

It was a small but beautiful, golden medallion with an elaborate cross design carved into it. As she and the other Lyoko Warriors examined it, the Shobijin's voices interjected once more.

 _"Please keep this medallion with you,"_ they instructed. _"It is a token to remind you that Mothra will be on your side for as long as you fight against evil."_

The five teens looked around the Lab again, but this time, the Shobijin were nowhere to be found—apparently, they had remained back at their home on Infant Island.

 _Use your powers wisely,_ Yumi heard the two women say again—except she didn't. Whereas she had distinctly heard the Shobijin's voices with her own ears before, this command, oddly enough, seemed to have originated from her own mind.

 _What?_ Yumi answered mentally, but got no response from the small girls. She was very confused, but there was nothing she could do except concentrate back on the matter at hand.

"So I'm guessing that we're going to free the kaiju after all," said Odd. "Right, Einstein?"

"You got it," Jeremy confirmed, sitting back down on his chair in front of the interface.

"And how are we going to destroy the Replikas?" asked Ulrich. "Didn't you say that you came up with a way to destroy them?"

"I did. But I'm not going to take all of the credit—in reality, most of the work was done by our new friend, Godzilla."

"What do you mean?" Yumi asked.

"When Godzilla destroyed the Replika that tried to take control of him, it revealed a severe weakness of the Replikas," Jeremy explained. "They're manifested on supercomputers much less powerful than ours. For this reason, they can't be subjected to extended durations of intense power. If they were, it would trigger a destructive chain reaction that would quickly annihilate the entire Replika. Does that make sense?"

Odd, Ulrich, and Yumi only stared blankly at Jeremy.

"Er…yeah," Odd finally answered, "but do you think you could explain it again for us, just a lot slower?"

Jeremy sighed in exasperation. Fortunately for everyone, though, Aelita understood all of Jeremy's complicated explanation, and simplified it for the rest of her friends.

"What Jeremy is saying is that the Replikas are vulnerable to large amounts of energy," she said. "When Godzilla resisted XANA's control, XANA tried to fight back by generating more power in the Replika. All it did was overload the Replika, destroying it."

"Right," Jeremy acknowledged. "Based on this information, I've created a virus code that should disable a Replika's power regulation inhibitors. All we need to do is get to that Replika and have Aelita enter it into a tower; once the inhibitors are disabled, the Replika will become overloaded and destroy itself, freeing the kaiju. Now do you understand?"

The other Lyoko Warriors nodded.

"That sounds great," said Ulrich, "but you still haven't addressed how we're going to get to the Replikas without being virtualized forever in the Digital Sea."

"I was just about to get to that," Jeremy responded. He turned to the interface and entered a few commands, and promptly, a digital image of a strange vehicle filled up the interface's screen. It was a long, rod shape with a large central pod on one end, with a pair of scythe-like wings attached to it. Connected to the rod were four smaller pods, each appearing to be a separate vehicle itself.

"This something that Aelita and I have been busy developing," Jeremy explained. "It's a submarine designed to transport us through the Digital Sea and into the Replikas. We're still adding the finishing touches to it, but it should be ready by the end of the week. After that, we'll finally be able to take the fight to XANA."

"Fantastic," said Odd, impressed by this news. "But while we wait, let's hit the cafeteria. I'm starving!"

* * *

 _North Pacific Ocean_

While he was clearly a force to be reckoned with on land, what many people didn't realize was that Godzilla was actually better-suited to live in the water.

For instance, Godzilla had spent several millennia hibernating at the bottom of the deepest oceans. He didn't even need to breathe air to survive—as long as there was radiation for him to absorb, Godzilla could survive conditions that would easily be fatal for any other organism on the planet. Additionally, he was quite agile in the water despite his immense size; he usually swam at speeds that made it nearly impossible for most vessels to keep up with him.

Godzilla had been traversing the Pacific for almost a week now. Like a kaiju-sized bloodhound, he had been tracking Rodan's movements ever since he drove the giant pterosaur out of Sapporo. But now, the scent had run cold—as fast as Godzilla was in the water, Rodan was much, much faster in the air. He could be virtually anywhere in the world by now; the only thing that prevented the nuclear leviathan from giving up the search was his stubborn determination to put an end to the schemes of the strange force that had possessed his fellow kaiju.

That was when he sensed it.

Godzilla halted. A new presence had made itself known, and just like Rodan, it was one that Godzilla was very familiar with. Yet at the same time, the radioactive saurian could sense that this presence had the same malicious intent that Rodan did that night in Sapporo. Most importantly, however, Godzilla could sense that it was heading straight for Japan.

Godzilla weighed his options. On one hand, he could continue to track Rodan, but there was no way of knowing if he could catch the giant pterosaur in time before he attacked again. On the other, he could pursue the new presence and try to stop it before it had a chance to do the strange force's bidding.

The nuclear leviathan made up his mind. Godzilla abandoned his search for Rodan and turned around, heading back towards Japan. As he accelerated past sixty knots, a grim reality quickly set in.

He would have to fight another one of his allies.

* * *

 **So now we're about to get into the meat of the story. Who is this new, XANAfied kaiju that Godzilla will have to fight next time? If Chapter 4 isn't published in a timely manner, I'll reveal that in a sneak peek, similar to what I did for this chapter. :)**

 **Another thing: go check out this story on my DeviantART page (my username is TheEccentricGamer). I've included a few cool things** **there, including an unofficial soundtrack I compiled for this story (the link to the YouTube playlist is there, and it's also on my FanFiction profile). You can find when each song in the soundtrack "plays" in a given chapter of the story by checking out that chapter's description on DA. :)**

* * *

 **Replies to reviews for this chapter will be posted here. Watch this space.**

 **MadameMirage77: Thanks for yet another review! The whole bit on Infant Island actually drew more inspiration from the scene in _Final Wars_ , when the characters are briefly teleported to Infant Island for the Shobijin to speak to them about Gigan—although Lucy's experience in _Rulers of Earth_ was also very much on my mind, especially when it came to Yumi. One other thing I'm willing to confirm from your review: King Ghidorah eventually _will_ appear at some point, simply because he's such an iconic kaiju and it would be ludicrous for me to leave him out. :) (The timing is another thing—I don't plan on introducing him _this_ early on in the story.) And I'm so glad you finished watching the other episodes of _Code Lyoko_!**

 **ReginaDC21:** **Not to worry—after all, I did upload this chapter pretty late (if you live in the Americas, at least). Regarding what non-Earth Defender kaiju are called...that ultimately depends on where they come from. As you're probably aware, the _Godzilla_ franchise has a diverse roster of kaiju, each with a unique background. Some may be aliens, others may be mutants, and still others may be mechas or cyborgs (either controlled by humans or aliens). Long story short, I haven't crossed that bridge yet, but hopefully you'll get to see that for yourself. Thanks for the review! :)**

 **BulletWitch1985:** **Hello there! I'm glad you enjoyed my story! Thank you so much for all of the kind words! :)**

 **Matt: Huh, that's weird, I guess I can't link to DeviantART from FanFiction for some reason. My username is TheEccentricGamer.**

 **SethSmelser:** **Not to worry, I'm working on it! Thanks for the review!**

 **ParasiteEve2017:** **Yep, you nailed all four factions in those games! And I would rather not unveil any kaiju I may be considering to include in this story (apart from no-brainers like Mothra and King Ghidorah)—I prefer to let readers like you find out for yourselves. Thanks so much for the kind review! :) (P.S. I have not considered writing a _Code Lyoko_ / _Parasite Eve_ crossover, especially considering I know very little about the latter franchise.)**


	4. Chapter 4: Osaka Assault

**After over two months of sporadically working on this story while trying to get through college, I'm proud to finally publish the fourth chapter in its entirety! While I can't guarantee the wait for Chapter 5 will be any shorter, I hope this chapter makes up for it. :) Enjoy!**

* * *

 _Kobe_ , _Japan_

Located on the north shore of Osaka Bay, Kobe was smaller than nearby Osaka to the east; however, being Japan's sixth largest city, it was still a bustling, lively city in its own right. It was an unusually warm, sunny Saturday afternoon in Kobe, so many people decided it would be a good idea to relax and play at some of the region's beaches. One of the most popular of these beaches was Suma Beach, which granted visitors a marvelous view of northern Osaka Bay.

It was a perfect day—a day ill-suited for the carnage that was about to come.

Less than a kilometer off the coast of Suma Beach, the spiky carapace of a massive creature suddenly emerged at the surface. It didn't take long for beachgoers to notice it—the thing was moving very fast towards the beach. People stood up and approached the water's edge to get a better look at this strange sight.

And then the creature's head—also covered with sharp, bony horns—exploded from beneath the waves and let out a menacing, high-pitched howl.

That was enough to send the beachgoers into a panic. Many didn't even bother to stop and grab their belongings as they quickly fled the beach, deserting it in a matter of seconds.

The giant, spiky creature continued to trudge its way through the water before finally clambering onto the beach on all fours. It was very robust in appearance, and closely resembled an ankylosaur, albeit with much sharper teeth and claws. It paused for a moment to survey the cityscape ahead of it, and then began to march into it, effortlessly carving a path of destruction in its wake. The mission its new master had given it was simple: destroy as many buildings and kill as many people as possible.

Under XANA's control, Anguirus was more than happy to do so.

* * *

 _Paris Metropolitan Area, France_

Several time zones behind Japan, it was lunchtime at Kadic Academy. Because classes at Kadic ran for only half as long on Saturdays as they did on weekdays, it was also the end of the school day for the Lyoko Warriors.

Aelita, Jeremy, Odd, Ulrich, and Yumi all ate lunch together at their usual table in the cafeteria. Odd, in particular, was making short work of what his friends presumed would be the first of many helpings of meatballs.

"Have you ever thought about pacing yourself, Odd?" asked Ulrich, taking note of his roommate's seemingly superhuman eating habits.

"I can't help it," Odd answered, his voice muffled by the meatballs he was trying to chew up. "My stomach has a mind of its own."

"Sure it does," Ulrich responded sarcastically.

"No, really!" Odd exclaimed, having swallowed his food. "Have you ever thought about how much food Godzilla needs? My stomach is the same way. We both get really angry if we don't get enough to eat."

"Actually, Odd," interjected Jeremy, who was reading a large book at the lunch table, "Godzilla doesn't need to eat at all. He just needs to absorb radiation to stay active." Glancing up at Odd from his book, he jested, "Even if he did eat, I'm sure he'd still be hard-pressed to outdo your appetite."

Aelita, Ulrich, and Yumi all burst out laughing at Jeremy's joke, while Odd merely slouched back in his seat, rolling his eyes.

In her mirth, Aelita caught a glimpse of the cover of the book that Jeremy was reading. She saw its title, _In the Shadows of Monsters: Kaiju in the 20th Century_ ; as well as its author, one Kyohei Yamane.

"What are you reading, Jeremy?" Aelita asked him.

"A book I found in the library," Jeremy replied. "Since XANA is taking control of the world's kaiju, I figured it would be a good idea to find out more about them. At the moment, I'm learning a lot of new things about Mothra." Jeremy showed his friends the pages he had been reading in the book. In between the rows of text were three black-and-white photographs. The Lyoko Warriors recognized the flying form of Mothra in one picture, and the Shobijin in another. The third featured a familiar cross design.

Yumi held up her medallion—she had worn it around her neck every day since the Shobijin gave it to her—and quickly noticed that the design carved onto it matched that of the cross in the book. "Hey, that's the same symbol that's on my medallion!" she said.

Jeremy nodded. "That's Mothra's symbol," he confirmed. "It was discovered in 1961, by a joint Japanese-American expedition to Infant Island. They were also the ones who discovered the Shobijin. Unfortunately, the expedition was led by a greedy businessman, who kidnapped the Shobijin and brought them back to Japan, where he made a huge profit by forcing them to perform in shows. But then Mothra came and attacked Japan; somehow, she knew that they were there.

"The businessman tried to escape to the U.S., but Mothra only followed him there. She started attacking San Francisco, but quickly stopped when the Shobijin were rescued and returned to her. According to the book, she hasn't been aggressive to humans ever since."

"Mothra seems pretty different from Godzilla," commented Ulrich.

"Yeah," Jeremy acknowledged. "They've actually fought each other before."

"When did that happen?" asked Yumi.

Just as Jeremy opened his mouth to respond, a series of alarming beeps sounded from his backpack. Picking it up from the floor next to his chair, he opened it and extracted his laptop, the source of the beeps. He promptly unfolded it and typed in a series of commands. Suddenly, his eyes widened in horror.

"What's the matter, Jeremy?" asked Aelita.

"XANA has just launched an attack," he answered, his fingers still rapidly tapping away at the keyboard as he tried to learn more about the A.I.'s latest scheme.

"I thought you said XANA couldn't activate towers on Lyoko anymore?" questioned Odd.

"Not here," Jeremy replied. "In Japan. He's possessed another kaiju using a Replika. It just made landfall in Kobe, and is now heading straight for Osaka."

Yumi abruptly sat up, now looking even more horrified than Jeremy. "That's where my uncle is!" she exclaimed.

"Are you sure?" Jeremy asked her.

"Positive," Yumi confirmed. "Before we left Japan, he told us he had to travel to Osaka until they could repair the damage that Rodan caused to his workplace in Tokyo. But now he's in danger again—we have to go and destroy that Replika!"

"I realize that," Jeremy responded. "But—"

"But what?"

"Aelita and I were only able to finish the submarine last night. We haven't had a chance to test it yet; we don't know what kind of threats might be hidden in the Digital Sea, or whether or not the sub will even _survive_ the plunge in the first place!"

"I get that," Yumi acknowledged—although not deterred. "But there are thousands of more lives at stake—not just our own. And when has taking risks ever stopped us?"

"Yumi's right, Jeremy," Aelita chimed in. "XANA has killed so many innocent people already. If we don't do something, more will pay the price."

Jeremy mentally weighed the statements from Yumi and Aelita. Although he was reluctant to put his friends' lives at risk, he realized that they were absolutely right—the city of Osaka couldn't afford to wait until the new submarine had been given a proper test run. No, they needed to find this Replika and destroy it now before XANA had a chance to take more lives.

"All right," he finally announced. "We'll head to the factory right away. When we get there, I'll run a program that will locate Replika that's controlling the new kaiju, while I transfer you to Sector 5 so you can enter the submarine."

With that, the Lyoko Warriors stood up from their lunch table and began their trek to the factory.

* * *

 _North Pacific Ocean_

Godzilla swam even faster, now exceeding an unbelievable 100 knots. While he had been following Anguirus for the past few days, it was only now that he sensed that his old ally had made landfall on Japan.

Ally. It was a funny word considering the complex relationship between Godzilla and Anguirus. Eons ago, the two kaiju and their kind had coexisted with each other. They often competed and fought for the same food and resources, but, ultimately, both were united in their efforts to protect the planet. However, when the humans' nuclear weapons awakened them both, they once again came into conflict with one another—while Godzilla attacked Japan out of fury, the less aggressive Anguirus had tried to subdue his more belligerent counterpart. This did not end well for the giant ankylosaur; after a lengthy fight, Godzilla viciously beat and mauled him, forcing him to retreat to sea.

Years later, following Godzilla's humiliating defeat by Mothra—or, more specifically, her _offspring_ —the nuclear leviathan eventually found himself at an island in the Pacific. There, he encountered Anguirus again. This meeting was much more peaceful than the last; with Godzilla having decided that attacking humanity was more trouble than it was worth, Anguirus no longer had reason to be hostile towards him, and the two kaiju quickly became companions.

Today, it seemed their roles had reversed. Now Anguirus was the aggressive one, albeit not of his own accord. Godzilla could easily sense that the strange force that had possessed Rodan had now done the same to Anguirus.

Rodan and Anguirus. In Godzilla's case, simply calling the two kaiju allies wasn't enough—they were his friends. Or, at least, they _had been_.

This only fueled Godzilla's rage. The strange force had turned his friends against him. Worse still, there was no guarantee that they could be freed from its control—for all Godzilla knew, Rodan and Anguirus would never be the same again.

Godzilla forced the thought to the back of his mind. As reluctant as he was to hurt his friends, he realized he might have no choice if he was to have any chance of stopping the strange force and its schemes.

The King of the Monsters pressed on towards Japan, his determination not wavering in the slightest.

* * *

"I've started the program," said Jeremy, now seated in his usual spot in front of the supercomputer's interface in the Lab. "I'm calibrating it to only lock on to the strongest source of XANA's activity within the Greater Osaka area; it should then trace those signals to find the Replika that's controlling our kaiju."

"How long will that take?" asked Ulrich.

"Theoretically, a few minutes," Jeremy answered.

"You mean you don't know for sure?" Yumi inquired, her frustration growing. Not that anyone could blame her—her uncle was in danger, after all.

"It's like I said, Aelita and I haven't had the chance to test these new programs yet," he responded. "It's just our luck that XANA chose to attack before we could."

"So, what now?" she asked again.

Jeremy began typing more commands into the interface before replying, "The least we can do is find out more about our attacking kaiju. I'm going to use the supercomputer to tap into both the Japanese news networks and military communications so we can monitor the situation."

Shortly after, a video feed of a Japanese news broadcast appeared on the interface's screen. The scene was a grisly one—a massive, spiky, quadrupedal kaiju was rampaging through the dense cityscape, effortlessly crashing its way through any building that stood in its way and leaving a trail of smoldering rubble behind it. Among its spikes, some small but noticeable scars covered its body, with an especially prominent one on display under its eye.

"That's one big armadillo," commented Odd, a look of horror on his face.

"It's Anguirus," Jeremy said.

"Anguirus?" asked Aelita.

"One of the kaiju I was reading about," he explained. "He fought Godzilla in Osaka back in 1955—and if those scars are any indication, it wasn't a pretty fight."

"Did he win?" Ulrich asked.

"No, but Anguirus is still strong and resilient in his own right. He might not be as powerful as Godzilla, but it seems that XANA snagged a very destructive kaiju nonetheless. The sooner this program locates the Replika, the better."

On cue, the interface beeped, and a new display took up the screen. "Bingo," Jeremy announced. "It's a copy of Lyoko's Desert Sector. Head to the scanners—I'll virtualize you to Sector 5. The submarine is docked in a hangar there."

Aelita, Odd, Ulrich, and Yumi entered the elevator that served as their access to the Lab from the rest of the factory. Yumi pressed the "down" button, and the elevator promptly descended to the Scanner Room below. When the doors opened, they stepped out into the Scanner Room, where they were now surrounded by the three towering, cylindrical scanners.

"Ladies first," said Ulrich, glancing at Aelita and Yumi.

The two girls each stepped into a separate scanner. The doors closed, sealing them inside.

In the Lab, Jeremy used the interface to begin the virtualization process. "Transfer, Aelita," he said on the interface's headset. "Transfer, Yumi. Scanner, Aelita. Scanner, Yumi." Upon typing in the last set of commands, he called out, "Virtualization!"

* * *

The virtual forms of Aelita and Yumi materialized almost simultaneously several feet over the floor of Lyoko's fifth sector. The two girls dropped and landed on their feet, and then they took a moment to notice their surroundings.

They had been virtualized in the Arena, a circular room encased in the center of the giant blue sphere that was Sector 5. In front of them was a narrow corridor that led to an unseen location. Behind Aelita and Yumi, Odd and Ulrich promptly materialized and dropped to the Arena's floor in a similar manner to the girls. Quickly, however, they noticed something different.

"Hey, our clothes are different!" Ulrich exclaimed.

True to his word, the four teens saw that their virtual apparel was now significantly different from what it had been ever since they had started fighting XANA. All of their outfits were now more futuristic in appearance—in particular, Odd now sported a pair of cat ears to match his purple catsuit, while Ulrich had gained an extra katana while ditching his old samurai garb. Meanwhile, Aelita now wore a translucent skirt, and Yumi a pair of shoulder pads to match her new burgundy suit.

 _"When we rebuilt Lyoko, Aelita and I decided to upgrade your Lyoko forms as well,"_ Jeremy explained, radioing his friends from his station back in the real world. _"I wanted to make it a surprise."_

"Wow, Einstein," said Odd, impressed. "Who knew you had a good taste in fashion?"

 _"Well, the fashion was, for the most part, Aelita's doing. I mainly just handled upgrading your weapons and abilities."_

Back in the Lab, Jeremy glanced at one of the smaller screens that flanked the interface. Displayed on it was a map of Greater Osaka, with a red dot indicating Anguirus's position. Jeremy noted that Anguirus had just left Kobe, but was now advancing eastward towards the more heavily-populated Osaka city proper. At the rate the spiked behemoth was moving, Jeremy knew it would be less than an hour before he arrived.

 _"We can talk more about your new clothes later,"_ he said. _"Head straight down the corridor in front of you. There will be an elevator for you at the end of the path that will take you to the hangar. Since Sector 5 no longer has a countdown, there won't be any traps to slow you down."_

The Lyoko Warriors did as they were instructed, and ran down said corridor, leaving the Arena. After a few yards, they arrived at a vast, open space, surrounded on all sides by Sector 5's blue walls. At the end of the path was a ledge, where the four teens stopped. Seconds later, a large metal platform—the elevator—descended down a rail stretching from the ceiling to the ledge. The elevator came to a halt in front of the Lyoko Warriors, and they boarded it. Then the elevator began to head back up towards the ceiling.

In just under a minute, the elevator emerged in another, much larger room near Sector 5's north pole. Suspended in the middle of it was a disc-shaped platform, five docking arms, and in the middle of it, the vertical frame of the submarine.

The four Lyoko Warriors marveled at the sight as the elevator ascended into the hangar. Ulrich whistled, while Yumi remarked, "It's beautiful."

"Einstein, you and Aelita have outdone yourselves," complimented Odd. Then, rather abruptly, he asked, "What should we name it?"

Yumi cast an annoyed look at Odd. "How is that a priority right now?"

"Oh, come on, Yumi!" Odd protested. "We _have_ to come up with a name for this thing before we set sail for the first time. Ulrich agrees with me!"

"Actually, Odd, I'm with Yumi on this," said Ulrich. "That's the least of our worries right now."

"Unbelievable," Odd muttered. "Fine, I'll come up with one myself. How about the SS _Meatball_?"

The other Lyoko Warriors facepalmed in unison.

"Is it possible for you to stop thinking with your stomach for one second?" Ulrich finally asked.

"Can you blame me?" Odd responded defensively. "I never got my second helping of meatballs."

As the elevator neared its destination, Aelita decided to interrupt her friends' banter. "When I was little," she began, "my father told me stories about a ship from Norse mythology. It never lost its way, and could even sail through land. It was called the _Skidbladnir_."

The Lyoko Warriors considered Aelita's suggestion. "That actually sounds like a cool name," said Yumi.

"It sure does," Ulrich agreed.

"Yeah," added Odd. "But let's keep it simple—we can call it the _Skid_ for short."

 _"I guess we're all in agreement, then,"_ said Jeremy as the elevator stopped. _"The_ Skid _it is."_

The four Lyoko Warriors stepped off the elevator and onto the platform that encircled their newly-christened submarine. "What do we do now, Jeremy?" asked Ulrich.

 _"Each of you step onto one of the transporter spots to your right,"_ the young genius instructed. _"Since Aelita is piloting the sub, she'll be in the center."_

They did as Jeremy told them to, and stepped onto one of the small, circular platforms. Aelita stood in the center, while Odd, Ulrich, and Yumi each stood in one of the four smaller platforms surrounding it.

 _"Now, I'm going to transport you to the inside of the_ Skid _,"_ Jeremy announced. _"Energize!"_

Promptly, the other four Lyoko Warriors vanished from the transporter platforms before reappearing inside the _Skid_. Aelita was now seated in the cockpit on top of the submarine, while Odd, Ulrich, and Yumi were each now in one of the smaller, detachable pods.

"Everything looks good from my end, Jeremy," said Aelita. "Initial checks of the _Skid_ 's systems have been completed."

 _"Then we're ready to go,"_ Jeremy responded. _"Releasing docking mechanisms."_

Inside the _Skid_ 's hangar, the five docking arms disengaged and pulled away from the submarine. On the _Skid_ itself, a pair of jets mounted on its wings ignited.

"We have ignition, and _liftoff_!" exclaimed Aelita.

The _Skid_ began to rise out of the hangar, heading for the exit in Sector 5's north pole. Within seconds, the _Skid_ had emerged from the massive blue sphere, and now levitated in the space between the sphere and the Celestial Dome, a much larger, dark blue sphere that encased the entire sector.

 _"I'm opening the tunnel to the Desert Sector,"_ said Jeremy. _"After that, it's straight into the Digital Sea. Are you guys still sure you want to do this?"_

"Positive," answered Yumi.

"Definitely," added Ulrich.

"I might still be hungry, but you can count on me, Einstein!" Odd chimed in.

"Try not to worry, Jeremy," Aelita assured him. "We'll make it to the Replika. I trust that you've done everything you can."

Still feeling nervous, but with newfound confidence, Jeremy acknowledged, _"Okay. The tunnel is now open."_

The _Skid_ flew into this tunnel in the Celestial Dome and emerged seconds later, now hovering several meters above the Digital Sea in the Desert Sector.

"All systems are go for the dive," said Aelita.

 _"Copy that,"_ responded Jeremy. _"Please stay safe, you guys."_

"We will. Commencing dive!"

The _Skid_ promptly fell from the sky, impacting the surface of the Digital Sea just a few seconds later. Before the Lyoko Warriors could tell what was going on, the submarine soon emerged through a gate of some kind. The four teens could see a second, translucent barrier laying ahead of them, and beyond that, the dark turquoise expanse of the Digital Sea.

"We made it, Jeremy!" Aelita announced excitedly. "We're in the Digital Sea!"

Back in the Lab, Jeremy let out a sigh of relief. _"Excellent,"_ he responded. _"I'm deactivating Lyoko's protective firewall. Once you pass through it, I'll guide you to the Replika."_

"Roger," acknowledged Aelita. "Rotating into cruising configuration and engaging turbo-propeller."

The submarine's vertical configuration began to change into a more horizontal one, with the cockpit now near the back and the smaller pods facing towards the front instead of downward. At the same time, the translucent barrier—the firewall that kept XANA out of Lyoko—parted, giving the _Skid_ access to the Digital Sea in its entirety. Shortly after, the _Skid_ 's engines started, thrusting the submarine through the firewall, which sealed back up once the vessel had passed through.

The Lyoko Warriors were now cruising through the network.

* * *

As night fell over Japan, Anguirus continued his relentless rampage through Greater Osaka, following his new master's every command as he made short work of every building and other obstacle that stood in his way. People were already trying desperately to evacuate from Osaka and the smaller outlying cities threatened by the spiky kaiju. Many hadn't bothered trying to use their vehicles, and simply tried to flee on foot.

Meanwhile, the JSDF had been deployed almost immediately after Anguirus made landfall in Kobe. They had been given two main tasks, their first being to help civilians get away as quickly as possible. As the swift evacuation neared completion, the military prepared to commence its second task: an armed defensive downtown Osaka.

The whirring sounds of helicopters overhead signaled the start of this plan. A squadron of four Japanese AH-1 Cobra helicopters rapidly flew towards Anguirus before slowing down to a hover just a few dozen meters away from the kaiju.

"Command, this is Attacker One," radioed the pilot of the lead Cobra. "We are in position and awaiting further orders."

 _"Attacker One, this is Command,"_ the commander on the ground responded. _"The order to attack Anguirus has been confirmed. Commence fire."_

 _"Ryokai,"_ the pilot acknowledged. "Commence fire on the target."

Simultaneously, the four Cobras unleashed their payload of BGM-71 TOW missiles at Anguirus, all of which exploded upon impacting his protective spiked carapace. As the flames and the smoke cleared, the kaiju cast an angry glare at the helicopters and roared in defiance, and started to advance towards them. The Cobras began to pull away, drawing Anguirus towards a less densely-populated area near the western bank of the Yodo River, one of the main rivers that flowed through Osaka.

The next phase of the attack was about to begin.

As the Cobras retreated to a safe distance, a sizable battalion of Japanese Type 10 Main Battle Tanks and wheeled Type 16 Maneuver Combat Vehicles stationed on the opposite side of the river trained their guns on Anguirus, and promptly opened fire all at once at the spiky behemoth. Dozens of 105mm and 120mm HEAT rounds peppered Anguirus, exploding upon contact with his tough hide in an impressive display of firepower.

All of which did next to nothing against a creature that had managed to hold his own against Godzilla himself.

With another furious roar, Anguirus pawed his claws at the ground, and then began to charge across the Yodo River in a manner similar to that of an angry bull. Just before reaching the other side of the river, the kaiju suddenly did something nobody expected—he jumped into the air and curled his body up into a massive, spiked ball. Hastily, the tanks and MCVs tried to steer out of the way, but a few were not so lucky. Anguirus rolled right over them, easily crushing them like they were children's toys as he broke through their defensive line before plowing into the dense cityscape behind them.

The JSDF's defensive had failed. Anguirus had entered downtown Osaka.

* * *

Back in France, Jeremy continued to monitor the situation in Osaka closely while he guided his friends to the Replika. He had listened to the JSDF's radio communications—which the supercomputer had conveniently translated from Japanese for him to understand—as they carried out their defensive operation against Anguirus. He watched live news footage from the Japanese TV networks as the attack helicopters lured Anguirus to the Yodo River's edge where the tanks and other military vehicles could get a clear shot at him. However, the spiked behemoth did not suffer so much as a scratch, and managed to charge his way right through them. Just as Jeremy had thought, XANA had indeed taken control of a powerful beast in Anguirus. He could only hope that XANA wouldn't have the chance to find and possess even more powerful kaiju.

 _"Jeremy, we're arriving at the Replika now,"_ Aelita radioed in, interrupting Jeremy's thoughts.

"Copy that, Aelita," Jeremy acknowledged.

In the network, the _Skid_ approached a giant, blocky sphere, similar to how Lyoko appeared when seen from the Digital Sea—minus the firewall that Jeremy had added.

 _"Look for an entry portal at the south pole, just like on Lyoko,"_ Jeremy instructed.

"I see it," Aelita responded as she maneuvered the _Skid_ towards said portal, which was physically identical to that on Lyoko. But looks could be deceiving; chances were, XANA had secured the Replika's entryway with an access code of some kind. Fortunately, however, Aelita and Jeremy had prepared for such a scenario.

Aelita rotated the _Skid_ back to its vertical orientation. Inside the cockpit, she placed her hand on a touchscreen panel. "Digital Key activated," she said. Immediately, a white beam shot out at the Replika's closed gate from underneath the _Skid_ 's cockpit.

"Can you get us in, Jeremy?" she asked.

 _"I'll have to crack this access code first,"_ he replied as he began to run a decryption program on the interface. _"It shouldn't take more than a few minutes."_

As promised, the Lyoko Warriors didn't have to wait long. The Replika's gate unlocked and swung open, allowing Aelita to maneuver the _Skid_ into the Replika. Seconds later, the submarine broke the surface of the Digital Sea, and accelerated into the orange sky of the Desert Replika. As the _Skid_ flew up to one of the many large plateaus of the Replika, Odd, Ulrich, and Yumi peered out through the bubble canopies of their detachable pods—which they had agreed to call Navskids—and surveyed the landscape.

"It looks exactly like the Desert Sector," commented Odd. "Come on, XANA, show a little bit of creativity!"

"That's rich, coming from the biggest copycat in Biology," Ulrich retorted.

"Oh, yeah?" Odd countered. "I didn't see _you_ get a great grade on that Lab project."

"All right, knock it off," Yumi interrupted. "It'd be nice if you two could focus on the task at hand."

 _"Don't worry, Yumi,"_ reassured Jeremy. _"It shouldn't take too long to destroy the Replika. Aelita just needs to go into a tower, enter the virus code, and it's goodbye Replika."_

"That's it?" asked Odd. "Why'd you bring us along, then?"

 _"It'll take some time to execute the virus code,"_ the young genius explained. _"Your job is to defend the_ Skid _while Aelita enters the code—if it's destroyed, there will be no way for you to get back to Earth."_

"Sounds dangerous," Odd quipped. "Well, good thing I work well under pressure."

Aelita spotted the glowing red halo of a nearby activated tower and maneuvered the _Skid_ towards it. "Initiating docking sequence with the tower," she announced.

 _"Roger, Aelita."_ Jeremy acknowledged. _"Once you dock the_ Skid _, I'll energize you out so you can deactivate the tower, then I'll reactivate it for our own use so you can input the virus code. The rest of you, sit tight for now."_

Within moments, the _Skid_ had hovered to within just a few meters of the tower. Aelita pressed a button in the cockpit, and a purple energy beam shot out from the _Skid_ before wrapping around the tower. The pinkette felt a surge of both relief and triumph—the _Skidbladnir_ 's first expedition to a Replika had gone off without a hitch. But celebrating would have to wait, at least for a short while longer—first, she had to deactivate the tower.

 _"Energize!"_ Jeremy called out.

Promptly, Aelita disappeared from the _Skid_ 's cockpit and rematerialized a few feet away from the base of the tower. She approached it and then passed through its exterior layer, entering it. Then she walked to the center of the tower's circular lower platform, which allowed her to levitate up to the smaller upper platform. Stepping onto this second platform, the tower's holographic interface materialized before her. After placing her hand against it, it flashed her name, "AELITA," and then she entered the words "CODE: LYOKO" into it.

"Tower deactivated," she announced.

 _"All right, Aelita,"_ said Jeremy, _"I'll reactivate it for our purposes and then you can get to work."_

* * *

Outside the tower, the other three Lyoko Warriors watched as the tower's halo faded from red to white, and then to green as Jeremy reactivated it. From inside his Navskid, Ulrich's eyes peered across the horizon of the Desert Replika before coming to rest on three peculiar, square-shaped rocks in the distance.

Then he noticed that the rocks were _moving_.

Ulrich looked closer. The "rocks" were cube-shaped, and were scurrying towards the tower and the _Skid_ on six short legs. Each of their four sides sported a white, spherical dome, with the eye of XANA emblazoned on each one.

"Jeremy, we have company," Ulrich warned. "There are three bloks heading this way."

 _"I see them,"_ Jeremy acknowledged. _"Their target will be the_ Skid _—I'm energizing all three of you out so you can defend it."_

Odd, Ulrich, and Yumi soon vanished from their seats in the Navskids and reappeared some ten meters from the _Skid_ just in time to meet the three monsters face-to-face.

"Odd, you try to lure one of them away from me and Yumi," Ulrich instructed. "We'll handle the other two."

"You got it, buddy," Odd responded. He began to sprint towards a pile of boulders not far from the tower, firing a volley of laser arrows from his arms at one of the bloks as he ran. This was enough to get the monster's attention, and it began to pursue him, firing its laser cannon at him from one of its four eyes.

While the blok chased after Odd, Ulrich and Yumi prepared to square off with its two comrades. Ulrich withdrew his two katanas, and Yumi unfurled her two tessen fans. In response, the bloks' eyes glowed red as they charged their lasers, and then they fired simultaneously at the two teens. Ulrich deflected all of the shots aimed for him with his katanas, while Yumi blocked her shots with her fans. The Japanese girl then somersaulted away, drawing both of the bloks' attention towards her and away from Ulrich.

This gave Ulrich the opportunity he was waiting for. "Triplicate!" he shouted, and two digital clones of himself suddenly appeared on either side of him.

While one of the bloks continued to shoot at Yumi, the other diverted its attention back towards Ulrich and his two doppelgängers as they charged towards it. The monster opened fire at one of the clones, and annihilated one of them with one shot. After missing its next two shots, it managed to eliminate the other clone, but by this point, it was too late—Ulrich lunged at the blok and plunged his two katanas right into the center of its soft, vulnerable eye before leaping away. Its weak spot having been hit, the blok reeled over, and then exploded.

Meanwhile, Odd had lured his stray blok to just outside the pile of boulders. Using the claws on his catsuit's gloves, he grappled onto one of the boulders and then fired another three laser arrows at the blok, all of which ricocheted harmlessly off of the blok's hardened shell. Growling in frustration, Odd dove behind the boulder. Now behind cover, Odd could easily shoot at the blok without worrying as much about being hit by its laser.

With this fact in mind, Odd decided to taunt his opponent. "Hey, dummy!" he shouted at the monster. "Bet you can't hit me now!"

What the blok did in response was something neither Odd nor the other Lyoko Warriors could have prepared for.

The monster swiveled its cube-shaped head, pointing one of its eyes at Odd. Then the eye began to glow as it charged—only the glow was purple instead of red. Then, with a loud _whoosh_ , the blok fired an orb of purple energy straight at the boulder Odd had ducked behind.

At the sight of this, Odd panicked. Like the other Lyoko Warriors, he knew from experience that bloks only ever had three attacks—and this was not one of them. Before he had time to react, the purple orb hit the boulder, destroying it in a massive explosion that sent Odd flying. The boy screamed as he careened through the air, before landing face-first on the ground.

Several yards away, Ulrich, having heard the explosion, turned his head just in time to see his best friend crash to the ground. _"Odd!"_ he yelled. Fortunately, he hadn't been devirtualized, but was now lying still on the ground, completely at the mercy of the approaching blok.

Noticing this, Yumi—herself focused on fighting the other remaining blok—instructed Ulrich, "Go help him. I'll take care of this one."

Ulrich gave Yumi a nod, and then turned towards Odd. "Super Sprint!" he exclaimed, and ran at lightning speed towards Odd, leaving Yumi alone with the blok. Yumi unfurled her fans again and hurled them at the blok. Much to her surprise, however, the monster managed to dodge them both, and pointed one of its eyes towards Yumi, which began to glow blue. Knowing what was coming, Yumi attempted to get out of the way, but the blok was quicker—it fired its Freezing Spray at her and hit her legs, encasing them in ice.

Now Yumi was defenseless—or so the blok thought.

Yumi's two fans promptly returned like a pair of boomerangs, slicing their way through the blok's eyes as they flew back towards her. Yumi caught her fans, and the monster exploded shortly after. She then used her fans to cut herself free from the ice that trapped her legs, and quickly ran off to help Odd and Ulrich.

The remaining blok slowly approached Odd, still lying facedown on the ground. Seeing that the boy hadn't been devirtualized by the blast from its new weapon, the monster charged up another shot from its laser cannon and fired at him. Before the laser bolt could hit him, however, Ulrich suddenly Super-Sprinted in between Odd and the blok, deflecting the bolt right back at the monster as he passed. The laser hit the blok's eye, destroying it.

With all three of their enemies now being eliminated, Ulrich approached his downed friend and helped him up. "You okay?" he asked.

"Never better," Odd replied. "I had the situation under control the whole time."

Ulrich chuckled. "I didn't know lying facedown on the ground meant having things under—" Suddenly, he noticed something on the rocks behind Odd, and abruptly shoved his friend out of the way. _"Odd, watch out!"_

Ulrich withdrew his katanas just in time to deflect a laser blast from a kankrelat, which had discreetly clambered its way on top of one of the boulders and was now shooting at Odd and Ulrich. The young brunette effortlessly blocked its next few shots with a few swings of his katanas.

What the small, insectoid monster did next caught Ulrich off-guard. The kankrelat leapt into the air and hurtled itself right into Ulrich, knocking him over. It then latched itself onto the boy's chest with its four short, mechanical legs.

 _"What the—?!"_ Ulrich exclaimed in shock as he now wrestled on the ground with the seemingly crazy kankrelat on his chest. In his struggle, he noticed something strange about the monster—it was now starting to glow red. Frantically, Ulrich tried harder to shake the kankrelat off of him; whatever reason there was for the strange red glow, he knew it couldn't be good.

At last, Ulrich managed to pry the monster off of his chest, before throwing it away from him with all of his might. It was just in time, too—no sooner did the kankrelat land some ten feet away from him than it violently vaporized in a large explosion, which, Ulrich realized grimly, would have easily devirtualized him had the monster still been attached to him.

Now, it was Odd's turn to help Ulrich up. "Guess that's two I owe you now," he said.

As Ulrich opened his mouth to respond, he and Odd heard something off to the side, and they both turned in time to see two more kankrelats leaping their way. Before they could grapple on to the two boys, however, a pair of tessen fans suddenly flew past and sliced cleanly through the monsters' frail shells, destroying them in middair. Odd and Ulrich turned around to see Yumi approaching them.

With no more monsters in sight, the three Lyoko Warriors turned their attention to Jeremy.

"Hey, Jeremy," said Ulrich, "what was with those monsters? We haven't seen them do anything like this before."

"Yeah," agreed Odd. "First, bloks that blow stuff up, and now kamikaze kankrelats? Did XANA put these guys on steroids or something?"

 _"I'm afraid it's much worse than that, Odd,"_ Jeremy answered grimly. _"XANA's access of the network has granted him nearly unlimited resources to work with. Just as we've upgraded our abilities on Lyoko, he's done the same to his monsters to level the playing field. We'll have to be very careful from this point forward—there's no telling what other surprises he may have in store for us."_

"Well, that's comforting," Ulrich muttered sarcastically. "What should we do now?"

 _"Head back to the_ Skid _. Aelita is almost done implementing the virus code."_

"Got it," acknowledged Yumi, and she, Odd, and Ulrich promptly began to run back towards the _Skid_ and the tower.

* * *

While her friends fought the monsters outside, Aelita continued to work away at the tower's interface. She just needed to enter a few more commands in order to execute virus code, and then the Replika would be vulnerable; XANA would no longer be able to effectively control Anguirus, and the kaiju would break free of his own accord, destroying the Replika in the process. At least, that was Jeremy's theory behind the virus code.

 _"How is the virus code coming along, Aelita?"_ Jeremy asked her.

"I'm finishing up right now," Aelita replied. She entered the last commands, and then pressed a button on the tower's interface that would execute the code.

But nothing happened.

Aelita blinked in surprise, and pressed the button again. The result was the same—no response from the tower's interface.

"What the heck?" she asked in confusion.

 _"What's wrong?"_ Jeremy asked again.

"I can't execute the virus code!"

 _"What?!"_ Jeremy exclaimed in shock. In the Lab, the young genius frantically typed away at the supercomputer's interface, trying to find the solution to this problem. He scanned every line of the virus code he had developed, looking for an error, but he found nothing—the code was flawless. No, the problem had to lie elsewhere, maybe somewhere in the Replika, or the towers…

 _"Jeremy, something else is happening to the tower!"_ Aelita cried.

The inside of the tower was now shaking violently. Aelita struggled to keep her balance on the platform as the tower swayed from side to side. The tower's interface was also acting strangely, blaring alarms as it erased all of the work Aelita had done on the virus code. Then it disappeared, and the tower's shaking stopped soon after.

"What was that?" Aelita asked.

 _"XANA has just regained control of the tower from us,"_ Jeremy replied. _"All that work you just did was for nothing."_

"But why didn't the virus code work?"

 _"I—I don't know, Aelita,"_ Jeremy stammered. _"That's what I'm trying to figure out right now."_

Back in the Lab, Jeremy scanned through every piece of data on the Replika that he had at his disposal—anything that might help him determine why the virus code had failed. With Anguirus still ravaging Osaka under XANA's command, they couldn't afford to give up now and try again later. No, the Replika had to be destroyed _now_ , or else even more lives would be lost.

As Jeremy tried to solve the problem, an alarm suddenly blared on the interface, breaking his concentration. He glanced towards the source of the alarm and grimaced at what he saw.

There was now a _second_ red dot on the interface's map of Osaka. While the dot that denoted Anguirus was fixed roughly in the middle of the city, this new dot was located in Osaka Bay, and it was approaching land very fast.

"That's just what we needed," Jeremy muttered.

 _"What is it?"_ asked Ulrich, who had been listening to Jeremy and Aelita's conversation along with Yumi and Odd.

"The supercomputer has just detected a second kaiju rapidly approaching Osaka from the ocean."

 _"Another one?"_ asked Yumi, concerned. _"Which one?"_

Jeremy typed in some more commands, and an image of Osaka Bay from a live Japanese news feed filled the interface's screen. What Jeremy saw on it caused his heart to skip a beat.

The dark, towering figure of the kaiju emerging from the waters of the bay.

The rows of jagged spikes that protruded from its back.

The fiery orange eyes that conveyed an expression of pure, unadulterated rage.

His hands trembling, Jeremy gripped his headset and answered, "It's Godzilla."

* * *

 **So, how was that for this story's first chapter featuring the Lyoko Warriors in action? Since this is an alternate Season 4, the events of the _Code Lyoko_ episodes "Maiden Voyage" and "Replika" have been effectively combined and condensed, only now there is the added challenge of trying to stop the XANAfied Anguirus's rampage. And this is only the beginning—the Lyoko Warriors must now destroy the Replika while dealing with XANA's newly-upgraded monsters, all while Godzilla confronts his former ally in Osaka. Will they be able to free Anguirus in time?**

 **I hope to reveal this all to you soon! Once again, thank you for reading, and be sure to leave a review!**

* * *

 **Replies to reviews for this chapter will be posted here. Watch this space.**

 **MadameMirage77: Sorry to hear that you're sick! D: I hope you manage to get over it soon. And yeah, even though Godzilla is _supposed_ to be on the same side as the Lyoko Warriors, his arrival still poses a problem for them; as with Rodan (who, by the way, you'll see more of in the near future), he'll be trying to stop the XANAfied Anguirus by any means necessary—even if it means causing collateral damage, which the Lyoko Warriors want to avoid. As always, thank you so much for the review!**

 **Greer123:** **Thanks for another review! I'm glad you liked the chapter, and I hope you have a great holiday season as well!**

 **ReginaDC21:** **It's totally fine, I'm happy that you eventually did write a review! Thank you so much!  
**


	5. Chapter 5: Face-Off

**Oh. My. Gosh. I am so, _so_ sorry that it's been over a year since I last published a chapter. D: College and work have not been kind to me. Writer's block has been even worse. I am overflowing with relief as I type this, as over thirteen months of on-and-off effort on writing this chapter has finally paid off. I really hope that it was worth the wait!**

* * *

 _Osaka, Japan_

First Sapporo, and now Osaka.

First Rodan, and now Anguirus.

 _Why?_

 _Why does_ he _keep showing up?_

As highly intelligent as he was, Hiroshi Ogata didn't have an answer.

When Anguirus made landfall in neighboring Kobe earlier that day, Ogata wasted no time evacuating the Geological Institute's offices in Osaka. Only after ensuring that the building was clear did Ogata make his exit aboard a Bell 206 helicopter waiting for him on the rooftop. For many of his coworkers, it seemed like an odd way for a mere geologist like him to leave the building.

Little did they know, however, that Ogata was _not_ a mere geologist.

The helicopter, in fact, belonged to G-Force, the international organization responsible for taking action against attacking kaiju. And Ogata was one of its highest-ranking members—his background as one of Japan's leading geologists, while lucrative, was only a cover due to the sensitive nature of his job. Only a handful of his closest friends and family knew about this secret life of his.

As the helicopter circled the night sky over Osaka, Ogata peered downward and watched in horror as Anguirus trudged through the cityscape below, easily demolishing every building that stood in his way. The giant ankylosaur was just the latest in this sudden outbreak of kaiju attacks; G-Force had presumed him to have died of his injuries after fighting Godzilla in this very city all those years ago, but it was obvious now that they had been wrong. This only added to Ogata's horror—if Anguirus could survive the wrath of the King of the Monsters himself, what chance did G-Force or the JSDF have against him?

But even this horror couldn't compare to the sense of helplessness Ogata felt when he saw the massive leviathan rise from the dark waters of Osaka Bay. The transmission he heard from the helicopter's radio confirmed that this wasn't just some bad dream: _"Godzilla has just been sighted in Osaka Bay."_

Ogata had never been a very religious man, but as he watched Godzilla make his way onshore and then advance towards Anguirus, he began to silently pray—anything to make this turmoil stop.

* * *

 _Desert Replika_

 _"Godzilla?!"_ Yumi exclaimed in horror. "He's in Osaka now?"

 _"I'm afraid so,"_ confirmed Jeremy. _"Based on data from the supercomputer, Godzilla is still not under XANA's control, so he clearly came to Osaka of his own accord."_

"But didn't the Shobijin say that Godzilla is supposed to be our friend?" asked Odd. "Why is he there?"

"For the same reason that he went to Sapporo," Aelita deduced. "To fight kaiju that have been possessed by XANA. First it was Rodan, now it's Anguirus."

 _"Don't forget that while Godzilla may be on our side, he's still a kaiju in a crowded city,"_ said Jeremy.

"Collateral damage," commented Ulrich.

 _"Exactly,"_ acknowledged Jeremy. _"Our best chance to stop them from fighting is to destroy the Replika and free Anguirus."_

"That sounds like a great idea, Einstein," said Odd, "but how are we going to do that if your virus code is all screwed up?"

 _"I think I've figured out my mistake,"_ Jeremy replied. _"The virus code seems to work fine, but I overlooked the fact that it can only be executed from within a certain tower on the Replika—a sort of 'regulator tower,' if you will."_

"Regulator tower?" asked Yumi. "What's that?"

"When Jeremy and I rebuilt Lyoko," explained Aelita, "we had to activate all of its towers at once in order to power the defensive measures we added to keep XANA out. Since it takes so much energy to power them, we needed to activate a separate tower that would regulate all of that energy so the other towers would stay activated without overloading Lyoko. That's what the regulator tower does."

 _"The same principle applies here,"_ Jeremy added. _"The power surge that brought the tower back under XANA's control came from the Replika's own regulator tower. Aelita needs to execute the virus code there in order to disrupt the Replika's energy output and trigger an overload."_

"I think I'm following along," said Ulrich. "How do we find this regulator tower, though?"

 _"I've already found it. XANA's consolidating more energy from the Replika to power Anguirus up so he can fight Godzilla. The regulator tower sticks out like a sore thumb here on the interface screen—it's ten klicks west of you."_

"What, you're not going to call us a taxi first?" joked Odd.

 _"Tell you what, Odd, I'll send you three of them."_

With that, Jeremy typed some commands into the interface, and the Lyoko Warriors' three vehicles materialized in front of them. Ulrich mounted his single-wheeled Overbike, while Yumi stepped onto her large, silver Overwing. Odd hopped onto his purple Overboard, and Aelita joined him.

 _"Be careful, though,"_ Jeremy warned, _"there's no way of knowing what tricks XANA will have up his sleeve to stop you, especially now that he has upgraded his monsters."_

"Don't worry, Jeremy," Aelita reassured him. "We'll cross that bridge when we get to it."

"See you slowpokes at the regulator tower!" Odd jested at Ulrich and Yumi as the teens accelerated away from the _Skid_.

* * *

The entire city of Osaka quaked with heavy footfalls as Godzilla made his way out of the water and began to follow the path of destruction that Anguirus had left behind earlier. While Godzilla was usually not hostile towards humans unless they provoked him, it also meant nothing to him if they happened to stand between him and his objective. So he simply plowed through any surviving buildings that stood in his way without a second thought.

This was in stark contrast to Anguirus, whose ongoing destruction of Osaka was methodical and deliberate. As Godzilla advanced deeper into the cityscape, he roared, announcing his presence. Anguirus promptly halted his assault and howled back in hostility, confirming what Godzilla already knew: his former ally was under the strange force's influence.

Like a pair of duelists squaring off before a fight, Godzilla and Anguirus stood facing each other a few hundred meters apart. Each kaiju stared the other down, sizing up his opponent and trying to determine how to subdue him. Normally a quadruped, Anguirus was shorter than Godzilla, but could easily rear up on his hind legs to better match his height. From head to tail, Anguirus was covered in sharp horns and spikes, each of which could be used as an effective weapon. His tough, spiky carapace was his greatest defense—breaking through it would be no easy task, even for Godzilla.

But Godzilla was still the physically stronger of the two—and as the visible scars on Anguirus's armored body showed, their last meeting had not gone well for the giant ankylosaur. Godzilla had beaten him before, and he was determined to do it again.

Anguirus, however, had other ideas.

The spiky behemoth snorted angrily, his eyes glaring hatefully at Godzilla. Even from this distance, Godzilla recognized the strange, eyelike symbol glowing from Anguirus's pupils—the same one he saw in Rodan's eyes in Sapporo. Then, with a roar, Anguirus charged and lunged into Godzilla, clawing at Godzilla's neck and chest.

Godzilla responded in kind. He grabbed onto Anguirus's forearms, and the two titans grappled with one another, each trying to push the other back. Gradually, however, Godzilla's superior size and strength won out, and he began to shove Anguirus backwards. The giant ankylosaur's rear claws dug into the street the two kaiju stood on, attempting to keep Godzilla from pushing him back, but it was no use. Anguirus skidded backwards several meters until Godzilla shoved him into the side of a building, which quickly collapsed from the force of two giant monsters being pushed into it.

Unfazed, Anguirus dove towards Godzilla again, slamming his spiky body into his opponent's. As Godzilla staggered backwards, he felt a sudden pain in his arm, and looked down at it to see that Anguirus had clamped his long, narrow jaws down on it. Godzilla attempted to pull his arm free of Anguirus's maw, but to no avail.

Now Anguirus was the one pushing Godzilla back. His teeth still sinking into Godzilla's arm, Anguirus forced the nuclear leviathan into the side of another, much taller building. Godzilla's dorsal spikes impaled the skyscraper, causing its exterior to start crumbling. Realizing that the entire building was about to collapse on top of him, Godzilla suddenly jerked his body backwards, not only yanking his arm free from Anguirus's jaws, but also pulling the ankylosaur himself into the side of the building as it gave way.

Godzilla's tactic worked, or so it had seemed. The building collapsed directly on top of Anguirus, burying him in an avalanche of concrete and steel. But no sooner did the dust begin to clear than Anguirus emerged from the pile of debris, almost completely unscathed.

The King of the Monsters growled in frustration. Even under the strange force's possession, the giant ankylosaur was still as tenacious as ever. While Godzilla was still hesitant to harm his old friend, he realized he wouldn't have much of a choice if he had any chance of defeating Anguirus.

* * *

 _"Look alive, guys. There's a swarm of hornets tailing you."_

Halfway to the Desert Replika's regulator tower, the four Lyoko Warriors heeded Jeremy's warning. Sure enough, six flying, insect-like hornets were trailing their vehicles in a high-speed pursuit.

"Let's split up," Yumi suggested. "It'll be easier to fight one or two of them at a time instead of the whole swarm."

"Got it," Ulrich acknowledged, and he steered the Overbike away from his friends, causing two of the hornets to break away from the swarm to pursue him. Odd and Aelita did the same, and sure enough, two more hornets went after them. Yumi maintained her course as she unfurled one of her fans, ready to fight the two hornets that remained.

The hornets arched their stinger-like tails, pointing them towards Yumi before letting loose a volley of laser bolts at her. Yumi used her fan to block some of the shots, and then hurled it straight towards the closer of the two hornets. Just before the fan could hit its target, however, it was shot off-course by the hornet's laser fire.

Yumi reacted fast. She placed her fingers to her forehead, and began to concentrate on the airborne fan. Then, using her telekinetic powers, she directed the fan back towards the hornet. This time, the fan sliced through the hornet's body, causing it to explode. Yumi caught the fan and accelerated the Overwing even more, attempting to gain distance between her and the remaining hornet.

Several hundred meters away, Odd and Aelita were caught in a similar chase with the two hornets that had veered towards them. But Odd had led the monsters straight into a narrow canyon, and it was thanks to his daring maneuvers on the Overboard that he and Aelita were able to stay ahead of them within the canyon's narrow confines. Still, the hornets were slowly making headway, and they fired their lasers at Aelita and Odd as they pursued the two teens.

"Odd, I have an idea," said Aelita as she watched the hornets draw nearer.

"I'm all ears, Princess," Odd responded.

"Just keep going," she instructed. "I'm about to lighten your load."

"Wait, _what_?" Odd turned his head in time to see Aelita wave her hand across a star-shaped bracelet on her wrist. To Odd's surprise, Aelita suddenly sprouted a pair of pink, translucent wings from her back and leapt off the Overboard, taking flight. As Odd and his vehicle accelerated away, Aelita decelerated, forcing the hornets to overshoot her. Then she sped up again, now behind the monsters, and held out her palm towards them.

 _"Energy field!"_ she called out as a pink orb of energy materialized from her hand, which she hurled towards one of the hornets. The energy field hit its mark, and the hornet was consumed by the pink energy before exploding.

The remaining hornet kept going, still trying to catch up with Odd. However, the canyon made a sharp turn to the left ahead. Odd seized the opportunity and propelled the Overboard up the side of the canyon's steep, ramp-like wall and straight into the air. As the hornet followed, Odd abruptly slowed the Overboard into a stall, and both he and the Overboard began to fall back towards the ground, forcing the hornet to overtake them. Odd stuck out his fist and fired a laser arrow directly into the monster's eye as it passed, causing it to explode.

Just before reaching the ground, Odd leveled out the Overboard and sped up again. Aelita, still in flight, swooped down to fly alongside him.

"Nice wings, Princess!" Odd complimented Aelita.

"Thanks!" Aelita replied.

 _"How did those wings I gave you work out, Aelita?"_ asked Jeremy.

"Like a charm!" she answered. "They're my favorite thing about my new virtual form!"

 _"That's great to hear,"_ Jeremy responded before adding, _"The regulator tower isn't too far away now—as long as Ulrich and Yumi keep the remaining hornets busy, you should be able to make it there easily."_

"Sure thing, Einstein!" Odd acknowledged. With that, he and Aelita pressed on towards the regulator tower, both of them assured that it wouldn't be long before they could destroy the Replika and go home.

They couldn't have been more wrong.

* * *

Ulrich continuously swerved the Overbike from side to side, dodging the shower of laser bolts from the two hornets that were still pursuing him. It was not an easy task—as with the original Desert Sector back on Lyoko, the plateaus that made up the Desert Replika were vast and mostly empty, providing the Lyoko Warriors with little cover from attacking monsters.

But luck was on Ulrich's side. He eyed the opening of a cave ahead of him, and steered the Overbike directly towards it. Two years' worth of fighting XANA's monsters had taught him that hornets, being aerial creatures, fared very poorly in tight spaces. With this weakness in mind, Ulrich sped into the cave, hoping that the hornets wouldn't be foolish enough to follow him inside.

Looking over his shoulder, Ulrich saw that his wish had been half-granted—only one of the hornets was following him now, although it struggled to keep up with him as they both weaved around the cave's walls. As the cave got narrower, Ulrich withdrew one of his katanas and abruptly hit the brakes on the Overbike. Just before the hornet could overtake him, Ulrich raised his katana into the air, slicing the monster clean in half as it passed.

With the hornet destroyed, Ulrich accelerated the Overbike again, and it wasn't long before he made it to the cave's exit. But no sooner did Ulrich emerge from the cave than the remaining hornet reappeared, having chosen to fly around the cave instead of following him through it like its ill-fated comrade. As Ulrich wondered what to do next, he suddenly spotted Yumi nearby, still being pursued on the Overwing by a hornet herself. Ulrich steered towards her and began driving alongside her, the two hornets now chasing them both.

"Need any help?" Ulrich called out to her.

"I was just about to ask _you_ that," Yumi answered. Then she shouted, _"Catch!"_ as she hurled one of her fans towards the hornet that had been chasing Ulrich. The fan hit its mark, and began to return—but not towards Yumi. Instead, Ulrich caught it from the Overbike before he sent it flying towards the last hornet, slicing it clean in two.

"Nice throw, Ulrich!" Yumi complimented him as she caught her fan.

"I learn from the best," Ulrich responded, eliciting a smile from the Japanese girl.

But their celebration was short-lived.

 _"Ulrich, Yumi, incoming!"_ Jeremy exclaimed.

The two teens looked up towards the sky, and saw an orb of white energy—larger than one of Aelita's energy fields—falling towards the ground about a hundred meters in front of them. Upon impacting the ground, the orb detonated in a large explosion, triggering a massive shockwave that spread rapidly across the plateau.

"Watch out!" cried Ulrich as he swiftly swerved the Overbike in the opposite direction of the approaching blast. In a panic, Yumi quickly followed suit, throwing the Overwing into a sharp 180-degree turn before quickly accelerating again, trying to outrun the shockwave before it could engulf her—

And then she collapsed to the floor of the Scanner Room.

As Yumi got to her feet, she slammed her fist into the side of the scanner she had just exited. _I've been devirtualized_ , she realized bitterly. It was not a new experience to Yumi; any time she or her friends lost all of their life points on Lyoko, they would be promptly and forcefully sent back to the real world. Devirtualization was a harmless ordeal, but this made it no less frustrating to Yumi, as it meant she could no longer fight alongside her friends on the Replika.

Yumi walked over to a nearby ladder in the Scanner Room and ascended it. When she reached the top, she was back in the Lab, where she could see Jeremy still sitting intently in front of the interface screen.

"Are you feeling okay, Yumi?" he asked her.

"More or less," she answered, approaching him. "What devirtualized me, anyway?"

"Honestly, I don't really know," Jeremy responded, looking puzzled. Then, into his headset, he asked, "Aelita, can you give me a visual of the regulator tower?"

A few seconds later, an image of the Desert Replika as seen from Aelita's point of view appeared on the interface screen. Yumi could see Odd and Ulrich—who had somehow managed to escape the explosion that devirtualized her—standing next to her. Then, Aelita looked towards the regulator tower, which glowed a darker shade of red than the rest of XANA's towers on the Replika.

Yumi and Jeremy could see that their friends were hiding behind a rock formation, and a wide expanse of empty desert separated them from the regulator tower. In the distance, they saw three large, insectoid figures standing at the base of the tower. They immediately recognized two of the figures as tarantulas—spider-like monsters capable of firing lasers out of their arms at a rapid pace. They were among the strongest monsters in XANA's virtual army, and destroying just one of them was no easy task.

But it wasn't the tarantulas that concerned the Lyoko Warriors the most. Rather, it was the third figure that stood between them, one which they had never seen before.

It was, for lack of a better term, a giant scorpion, roughly the size of a tank. It had all the features of a real-world scorpion—eight legs protruding from its sides, clad in a dark exoskeleton, and sporting two preposterously large pincers at the ends of its equally mammoth arms. Its tail towered above the rest of its body, curled up over its back. But instead of a stinger, the tip of the tail instead featured a large, conical nozzle, which pointed up towards the sky like some sort of artillery cannon.

"What is _that_ thing?" Yumi asked as soon as she noticed the scorpion-like creature.

"A new monster of some kind," Jeremy answered. "Not only is XANA upgrading his existing monsters, he's creating new ones to boot."

Yumi was about to respond when an alarm suddenly went off on the interface.

"Something's going on in Osaka," said Jeremy as he pulled up the map of the Japanese city on the interface. In the chaos of what happened on the Desert Replika, Yumi had almost forgotten about the two kaiju that were still doing battle in downtown Osaka.

"Oh, no," Jeremy gasped. "There's now a _third_ kaiju approaching Osaka from the air!"

 _"What?!"_ exclaimed Yumi. In the middle of the map, she could still see the two red dots representing Godzilla and Anguirus. But true to Jeremy's word, there was now a third red dot on the map, approaching Osaka from the north at an impossibly fast rate.

Yumi felt a chill run down her spine. There was only one creature she knew of that could travel that fast.

* * *

Godzilla had gained the upper hand against his friend. As ferocious as Anguirus was, the nuclear leviathan was simply stronger.

Their battle had taken them to Osaka's southern side, uncomfortably close to the 300-meter tall Abeno Harukas, the tallest building in Japan. Even though it was three times Godzilla's height, it would stand no chance if either kaiju happened to crash into it. Fortunately, it and the smaller buildings surrounding it had all been evacuated by the time Godzilla and Anguirus drew close to it.

Each time Anguirus was able to land a blow against Godzilla, the King of the Monsters struck back harder, forcing the ankylosaur backwards. Eventually, Godzilla slammed a clawed fist into Anguirus's jaw. Before the spiked behemoth could recover, Godzilla delivered a powerful kick to his abdomen, causing him to fall onto his back.

As Anguirus struggled to get up, Godzilla approached him and pressed his mammoth foot down on the ankylosaur's unprotected belly, pinning him to the ground. Before Godzilla had the chance to inflict further harm to his friend, however, he heard a familiar screech to his side.

Godzilla turned his head, only to be met by a pair of sharp talons that clawed at his face.

The King of the Monsters cried out in pain, temporarily blinded as he stumbled away from Anguirus. When he regained his eyesight, he saw that the ankylosaur had gotten back to his feet. Then, looking up, he spotted a giant flying figure circling the night sky over the two of them. It suddenly dove and landed next to Anguirus, before letting out a threatening screech at Godzilla.

Rodan had returned with a vengeance.

Godzilla snarled as he stared at his two friends. They stared back at him malevolently, that same strange symbol still embedded in their eyes.

He was outnumbered.

But the nuclear leviathan was not deterred. Whether it was his stubborn pride, determination, or both, Godzilla took a step forward and let out a mighty roar to the two kaiju. This was not just a challenging roar—it was one of absolute _fury_ , directed at the strange force for possessing his friends.

In surprise, Anguirus and Rodan hesitated, and actually took a step back. They clearly hadn't expected Godzilla to respond this aggressively to being outnumbered. Only with persuasion from their virtual master did the two kaiju roar back at Godzilla.

Then the King of the Monsters charged.

In response, Anguirus charged on all fours and Rodan sprang into the air just behind him. Just before the three kaiju could collide, however, Godzilla planted his tail and one of his feet into the hard ground, and used the other to stomp on Anguirus's head. As the hapless kaiju face-planted into the street, Godzilla leapt into the air using Anguirus's head as a springboard, clearing the ankylosaur's body in an act that belied his seemingly sluggish appearance. Then, while in midair, Godzilla tackled Rodan, sending the pterosaur crashing back down to earth.

Godzilla swiftly got to his feet, as did Rodan. The pterosaur once again lunged at him, gripping onto his arms with his talons and pecking at his head in a similar manner to what he did in their previous meeting. This time, however, Godzilla managed to wrestle his arms free and grabbed onto one of Rodan's wings. Then he spun around and flung the pterosaur by the wing into the side of a nearby building.

As Rodan crashed into the building, Godzilla suddenly felt an immense pain in his tail. He turned around to find that Anguirus had snuck up behind him and clamped his jaws down on his tail. Godzilla wrangled his tail free of Anguirus's maw and swung a fist at the ankylosaur's face. Anguirus dodged the blow, however, and reared up on his hind legs before countering with a blow of his own to Godzilla's chest.

Wincing in pain, Godzilla once more grappled with his friend. At this point, Godzilla stood facing Anguirus with his back turned to the Abeno Harukas, which towered over both of them. Akin to a pair of sumo wrestlers, Anguirus tried to force Godzilla into the massive skyscraper while Godzilla pushed him in the opposite direction. Eventually, with a mighty heave, Godzilla managed to push Anguirus several steps back before shoving the spiked behemoth away from him.

Anguirus stumbled backwards. When he recovered, he roared angrily at Godzilla, and for a moment, the King of the Monsters expected him to charge again. But instead, the ankylosaur turned his spiky back to him and simply stood there.

It wasn't long before Godzilla figured out why. Rodan suddenly swooped in from overhead, heading straight for the two of them. As he passed over Anguirus, he latched onto the ankylosaur's outstretched arms with his talons, sending him flying through the air like an acrobat on a trapeze—straight towards Godzilla.

The nuclear leviathan braced for the impact, but it was useless—Anguirus's spiky carapace slammed into his body like a colossal wrecking ball, sending him toppling into the side of the Abeno Harukas. Within seconds, the massive building collapsed on top of Godzilla, completely burying him in its rubble.

* * *

From the interface's screen, Yumi and Jeremy watched in stunned silence as Japan's tallest building came crashing to the ground in a matter of seconds. When the dust cleared, Godzilla was gone—only a large mound of the building's debris remained where he had stood.

 _"Jeremy, give us the rundown!"_ Odd's high-pitched voice rang out over Jeremy's headset, snapping him and Yumi back to reality. _"What's going on?"_

"Godzilla is down," Jeremy replied grimly. "Rodan appeared in Osaka to help Anguirus, and they just knocked Japan's tallest building down right on top of him."

A brief pause followed before Ulrich asked, _"Don't you have any good news for us?"_

"Not really—wait a second!" Jeremy exclaimed as he typed some commands on the interface. Yumi could see that his expression had lightened somewhat.

 _"What is it, Jeremy?"_ asked Aelita.

"The Replika is controlling both Anguirus _and_ Rodan!" he explained excitedly.

"Meaning that if we destroy it, we'll free both of them at once?" Yumi questioned.

"Exactly," Jeremy confirmed.

 _"Then let's not waste any time,"_ said Ulrich. _"If Godzilla's out of action, nothing will be able to keep Anguirus and Rodan occupied. We have to get to the regulator tower sooner than later."_

"Hold on, Ulrich," Jeremy interjected. "We don't even know what that new monster is capable of yet. For all we know, it could annihilate you all the second you venture out from behind those rocks."

 _"Ulrich's right, Jeremy,"_ Aelita chimed in. _"We can't let those kaiju cause any more destruction—we have to take that risk."_

Hearing this from Aelita was enough to persuade Jeremy. "Okay," he finally responded. "But be careful."

* * *

On the Desert Replika, Odd and Aelita once again hopped onto the Overboard while Ulrich got on the Overbike. They wasted no time leaving their hiding spot behind the rock formation as they made a beeline for the regulator tower and the three monsters that guarded it.

As the Lyoko Warriors sped across the no man's land that separated the rocks from the tower, they braced themselves, as they knew it would only be a matter of time before the monsters engaged them. But all three monsters merely stood their ground at the base of the tower as the three teens approached.

"Something's off," commented Aelita. "Why aren't they attacking?"

"What are you waiting for?" Odd asked the monsters. "Come on, do what you do."

As if on cue, the scorpion-like monster finally stepped forward, still pointing its bulky tail upward. Then the nozzle on the tip of the tail began to glow brightly as a large, white orb began to form on it. Suddenly, the monster's tail—a large cannon—fired the orb into the air. Within the seconds that followed, the orb began to fall back towards the ground, directly over the Lyoko Warriors.

Ulrich knew exactly what was coming. _"Odd, Aelita, pull back!"_

Odd and Aelita did as they were told, executing a sharp turn as they accelerated back towards the rock formation. Ulrich followed suit as the orb impacted the ground behind him, triggering the same massive explosion and destructive shockwave. It was only their quick reactions and even quicker vehicles that kept the Lyoko Warriors from being devirtualized as Yumi had been—they promptly returned to the cover of the rock formation as the force of the shockwave reached them, which the rocks shielded them from.

Once the shockwave subsided, the three teens peeked out from behind one of the rocks to assess the damage. To their disbelief, a huge swath of the desert in front of them was now almost completely scorched. Meanwhile, the three monsters had barely moved from their post in front of the regulator tower.

"That's _exactly_ what devirtualized Yumi," said Ulrich.

"In all the years I've been on Lyoko, I've never seen a monster with that much destructive power," remarked Aelita.

"Great," Odd grumbled. "If we take even a single step outside of these rocks, we're toast!"

 _"Not so fast, guys,"_ said Jeremy. _"When you made your initial charge towards the regulator tower, I was able to collect some data on the new monster."_

"And?" asked Ulrich.

 _"I can use the supercomputer to analyze our new friend and possibly determine a weakness,"_ he responded. _"I'll get on it right now."_

* * *

Back in the Lab, Yumi watched from over Jeremy's shoulder as the virtual form of the scorpion-like monster appeared on the interface screen. Jeremy typed in some commands as the supercomputer scanned it for its strengths and weaknesses.

As he did this, Yumi happened to glance at one of the interface's smaller side screens, where she could still see Japanese news coverage of Osaka. The shot was still focused on the rubble of the Abeno Harukas. Rodan had perched himself on the top of a nearby skyscraper, and Anguirus stood not far away, both surveying the rubble for any signs of life from the kaiju they had buried underneath it.

It was then that she noticed something. "Hey, what's _that_?" she asked. Jeremy looked at the screen to see what she was talking about.

Yumi blinked to make sure her eyes weren't playing tricks on her. The rubble seemed to be _glowing_. It was a faint but ominous blue light that seemed to be emanating from underneath the debris. Anguirus and Rodan seemed to have taken notice of this as well, and they looked clearly on edge.

And then it happened.

There was an explosion from the rubble as a beam of bright, blue light erupted from it, heading straight for the building where Rodan rested. The giant pterosaur suddenly sprung into the air and flew away, barely dodging the beam as it struck the top of the building, instantly annihilating it in a fiery explosion.

"What the…?" Jeremy and Yumi simultaneously muttered in surprise. But it was only the beginning.

The pile of rubble suddenly erupted again, and the massive form of Godzilla rose out from the middle of it. For having a skyscraper dropped on top of him, the King of the Monsters appeared none the worse for wear—except that he now looked even more pissed off than before.

Nearby, Anguirus had taken notice of Godzilla's sudden recovery, and roared angrily at the leviathan. In response, Godzilla turned to face him, but he didn't roar back.

Jeremy and Yumi continued to watch in awe as the blue glow suddenly returned—only this time, they could see that it was coming from Godzilla's back. The jagged spines on his back flickered with this strange light as the King of the Monsters began to inhale deeply, a similar blue light appearing from within his maw as he did so.

And then Godzilla opened his mouth, letting loose the full might of his atomic ray on Anguirus.

Even with his thick carapace to protect him, the sheer force and heat of the azure beam was too much for the ankylosaur to withstand. The spiky behemoth could only clamber backwards before the beam finally died. Undeterred, Anguirus lunged towards Godzilla, but was promptly met with another blast of atomic energy to the face. Only when Anguirus collapsed to the ground did Godzilla finally relent, seemingly unwilling to inflict further harm to his friend.

It took the voices of their friends on the Replika to snap Jeremy and Yumi out from the shock of what they had just witnessed.

 _"Well, Jeremy?"_ asked Ulrich. _"Have you found anything yet?"_

Jeremy glanced back at the main screen to find that the supercomputer's analysis of the scorpion-like monster was complete. He looked extensively over the information displayed on the screen before he announced his findings.

"XANA's new monster is stronger than anything we've seen before on Lyoko," he said. "Its body is protected by a thick exoskeleton, and the cannon on its tail has a maximum range of three hundred meters. The shockwave the projectile produces can instantly annihilate almost anything within fifty meters of where it lands—including you."

 _"Well, that's reassuring,"_ Odd remarked sarcastically. _"Now, how do we destroy it?"_

"I'm getting to that," Jeremy responded. "The monster has nothing in the way of close-range weaponry apart from the two pincers on its arms. The tail cannon, while destructive, is unable to hit anything less than fifty meters away. Any closer than that, it has to rely on other monsters for protection."

 _"Hence the two tarantulas,"_ said Aelita.

"Right. The monster is also top-heavy due to the weight of its tail; if you can find a way to topple it over, that should immobilize it."

 _"I see,"_ said Odd. _"So how do we get to the tower without getting pulverized the moment we leave these rocks?"_

"I have just the thing for that. Ulrich?"

 _"Yeah?"_ Ulrich answered.

"How would you like a little upgrade?"

* * *

Roars continued to echo across the Osaka skyline as the battle of the three titans raged on.

While Godzilla's attention was turned towards Anguirus, Rodan seized the opportunity to dive-bomb the nuclear leviathan from behind, his talons latching on to the back of his neck. Godzilla was thrown off balance by the pterosaur's momentum, causing him to stumble into the side of a nearby building. This actually helped him, however, as Rodan was forced to let go in order to avoid crashing into the building as well.

Godzilla recovered from the attack quickly. He turned towards Rodan, who had landed on top of another building. He swiped his claws at the pterosaur, attempting to swat him down. Rodan dodged the blows and countered by pecking at Godzilla's face before flying away again.

Godzilla grimaced. Even with Anguirus out of the picture, fighting Rodan was proving to be an even more difficult task than it had been in Sapporo.

The King of the Monsters continued to watch the giant pterosaur as he circled overhead before he suddenly swooped down for another pass. Rodan whizzed past Godzilla just a few hundred feet from the ground, a loud sonic boom sounding in his wake that caused several of the already-weakened buildings in his path to collapse. As the pterosaur ascended back into the sky, Godzilla let out another blast of his atomic ray towards him, which he expertly dodged.

It was then that Godzilla heard another roar behind him. He turned around to see Anguirus standing just a few hundred yards away, having recovered from his earlier punishment at the hands of Godzilla's atomic ray. The nuclear leviathan prepared to face off against the giant ankylosaur yet again—but by the time he realized his mistake, it was too late.

As it turned out, Anguirus's rebound had been little more than a distraction. While Godzilla's back was turned, Rodan suddenly dove down yet again and slammed into the back of the leviathan's head at almost supersonic speed. The force of the impact was enough to knock Godzilla off his feet and send him tumbling to the ground, after which Anguirus immediately lunged. At the same time, Rodan landed beside him, and the two possessed kaiju began to dogpile on top of Godzilla.

The King of the Monsters had been pinned down.

* * *

"I sure hope this plan of yours works, Einstein," said Odd as he watched Ulrich mount the Overbike.

 _"You and Aelita just sit tight for now,"_ Jeremy instructed. _"Ulrich, the moment you leave the rocks, use your Triplicate ability. It should now be linked to the Overbike."_

"Got it," Ulrich acknowledged, and with that, he hit the Overbike's accelerator and headed straight for the regulator tower. As he left the safety of the rocks, Ulrich put the first part of Jeremy's plan in action.

"Triplicate!" Ulrich shouted, just as he normally would. Sure enough, Ulrich's two doppelgängers appeared on either side of him—only now, they were both riding digital copies of the Overbike.

"It's working, Jeremy!" Ulrich reported.

 _"Good,"_ Jeremy responded. _"Now scatter. Force the monster to pick only one of you."_

Ulrich and his clones did as they were told and veered away from each other in different directions. This way, the new monster would only have time to aim and fire at one of them. Ulrich knew that it was all up to pure chance now; if the monster targeted him over his doppelgängers, he would be devirtualized and the plan would fall apart.

With this calculated risk at the back of his mind, Ulrich watched as the monster took aim with its massive tail cannon, charged the weapon, and fired. The projectile soared into the air and hit the ground, triggering the destructive shockwave—

Which engulfed one of Ulrich's clones before dissipating.

"Now's our chance!" Ulrich exclaimed.

Back at the rocks, Odd and Aelita hopped onto the Overboard and accelerated straight towards the tower. Ulrich and his remaining clone did the same. The scorpion-like monster tried to re-adjust its aim, but it was too late—the Lyoko Warriors were now much too close for it to use its main weapon. Seeing this, the monster backed away in retreat. Its two tarantula escorts, on the other hand, stood their ground. They assumed a crouching position, took aim with their arm-mounted cannons, and opened fire on the nearest approaching vehicle.

Unfortunately for Aelita and Odd, the nearest vehicle happened to be the Overboard. A shower of laser bolts greeted the two teens, forcing Odd to maneuver wildly to avoid getting hit.

But Aelita had an idea. "Odd, let me draw their fire," she said as she waved her hand across her bracelet, causing her angelic wings to appear again.

Right away, Odd knew what she was thinking. "Got it," he acknowledged, and with that, Aelita jumped off the Overboard, taking flight once more.

The tactic worked—as Aelita gained altitude, the tarantulas shifted their attention skyward and tried to shoot her down. With the monsters no longer firing at him, Odd zeroed in on one of the tarantulas. Seeing Odd approaching, the tarantula quickly turned its attention back to him and fired a volley of lasers in his direction.

Odd reacted fast. "Shield!" he exclaimed as he quickly crossed his arms, causing a translucent purple barrier to appear in front of him. The shield absorbed all of the tarantula's shots before Odd separated his arms, breaking the shield. Then he aimed at the tarantula and fired a series of laser arrows directly at the eye of XANA on its skull-like head.

That should have destroyed the monster easily.

Instead, a similar shield suddenly materialized directly in front of the tarantula, blocking the incoming laser arrows before vanishing.

 _"What?!"_ Odd blurted out in shock. Before he could react, the tarantula fired another shot at him, hitting him square in the chest. Odd screamed as the impact knocked him off the Overboard, devirtualizing him almost instantaneously.

* * *

Back on Earth, a frustrated Odd stumbled out from one of the scanners.

"Oh, come on!" he protested. "That's _my_ party trick!"

* * *

Still in flight, Aelita swooped down to confront the tarantula that had just devirtualized Odd.

" _That_ was a mistake," she threatened the monster in a low voice as an energy field formed in her palm. She hurled it straight at the tarantula, only for the shield to appear again and absorb the pink orb.

 _XANA has upgraded the tarantulas to give them shields,_ she thought. _This complicates things, no doubt. But there_ has _to be a weakness!_

The tarantula fired another series of shots at Aelita. With skillful aerial maneuvering, Aelita dodged each and every bolt before flying over the monster and landing directly behind it. The tarantula tried to turn its body around to attack her, but could only manage to peer back at her with its faceless head.

 _"Energy field!"_ she exclaimed as she hurled another orb at the monster's eye. This time, the energy field hit its mark, and the tarantula exploded.

 _So the shield doesn't protect every angle of the monster!_ Aelita realized. _As long as we attack from the rear or the sides, it doesn't stand a chance!_

Aelita heard a commotion to her right, and turned to see Ulrich squaring off with the remaining tarantula, which had similarly put up its own shield to block his attacks.

"Ulrich!" she called to him. "The shield only protects the front of the tarantula! Try to find a way around it!"

Ulrich nodded, understanding. _"Triangulate!"_ he exclaimed.

Promptly, Ulrich began to Super Sprint around the tarantula, trapping the monster within a triangle with an effigy of himself standing at each corner. Confused and disoriented by the Lyoko Warrior's trap, the tarantula looked around for a means of escape when Ulrich suddenly sliced off one of its hind legs. The monster lost its balance and fell on its side, giving Ulrich the opportunity to impale the monster's eye and destroy it.

With the tarantulas dealt with, Ulrich and Aelita approached the only remaining obstacle that stood between them and the regulator tower: the giant, scorpion-like monster.

 _"Be careful, you guys,"_ cautioned Jeremy. _"Even though you're too close for the monster for it to use its main weapon, it can still attack you with its pincers."_

Almost immediately after Jeremy finished his sentence, the scorpion monster charged at the two teens like a raging bull. Ulrich quickly dove out of the way, narrowly missing being run over by the monster. Aelita was not so lucky—the monster swung its arm at her, knocking her into a nearby boulder.

 _"Aelita!"_ cried Ulrich. The monster was now approaching her, its colossal pincers raised in the air, getting ready to finish her off. Ulrich reacted fast, Super Sprinting towards the monster.

 _"Over here!"_ he called out, and the monster turned its attention towards him. It charged again, only for Ulrich to leap into the air and land on top of its carapace. He began to hack away at the monster's hard exoskeleton with his katanas, but to no avail—the shell was far too strong for him to even dent it. It wasn't long before the monster managed to shake him off of its body, and Ulrich landed a short distance away.

The monster once again turned towards him and charged, and Ulrich was once again forced to dive out of the way. For being so large and robustly-built, the monster was surprisingly agile, which Ulrich deduced was due to its disproportionately narrow legs.

 _Wait a second—the legs!_

Didn't Jeremy say that the monster was top-heavy? Its eight legs must have supported a lot of weight. If the monster were to tip over—

Ulrich realized what he had to do.

The monster charged straight at him.

"Super Sprint!" he exclaimed, and ran straight towards the oncoming monster, both katanas in hand. The monster raised one of its pincers, ready to strike at Ulrich. Just before it could hit him, however, Ulrich dove to the ground and slid underneath the monster's arm. Then, with his arm outstretched, he slid past the monster, slicing his katana through the monster's legs as he went by.

Having passed the monster, Ulrich got back to his feet and turned around. Three of the monster's four legs on its right side had been completely severed. With its remaining leg, the monster tried to maintain its balance, but it was no use—the weight of its tail was too much, and the mammoth creature toppled over onto its right side, revealing an eye of XANA on its soft underbelly.

Ulrich didn't hesitate. He Super Sprinted back towards his fallen adversary and sliced his katana through the entire length of the eye. Its weak spot having been pierced, the scorpion-like monster exploded.

Ulrich heard cheers from Jeremy, Odd, and Yumi back in the Lab. The monster that had given them so much grief had finally been vanquished.

Aelita, having recovered from the monster's earlier strike against her, ran up to Ulrich. "Well done, Ulrich!" she said.

"Thanks," he replied. "Now let's destroy this Replika and go home."

Aelita nodded and ran to the regulator tower, entering it. Inside, she rose to the upper platform and opened up the tower's interface screen. From there, she began the same process of entering Jeremy's virus code into the tower.

* * *

 _Please work this time,_ thought Jeremy as he and his friends waited for Aelita to finish her work. If the virus code failed again, there would be no way to destroy the Replika—and no way to release Anguirus and Rodan from XANA's control.

After what seemed like hours of tense waiting, Aelita finally radioed back: _"Jeremy, I've executed the virus code! It's working!"_

Jeremy let out a sigh of relief. "Good, Aelita. Now get back to the _Skid_ as fast as you can—you only have a few minutes before the Replika overloads and destroys itself."

 _"Will do,"_ she acknowledged.

* * *

Back on the Desert Replika, Aelita ran out of the tower and back towards Ulrich, who was waiting for her on the Overbike.

"We don't have much time, Ulrich," she said as she climbed onto the Overbike behind him. "The Replika is becoming unstable. We have to return to the _Skid_ while we still can."

In response, Ulrich surveyed his surroundings. Everything on the Replika seemed as perfectly normal as it had been.

"What are you talking about?" he asked quizzically. "I don't see anything happening."

He had spoken too soon.

Suddenly, the regulator tower made a loud groaning noise. Ulrich watched in bewilderment as the tower spontaneously ignited on fire, and the plateau began to shake.

"You were saying?" Aelita questioned.

"Point taken," he answered grimly, and hit the Overbike's accelerator.

* * *

Regardless of how badly the odds were stacked against him, Godzilla simply refused to quit.

Being pinned down by his two closest friends was no exception. With a sudden surge of strength, Godzilla grabbed onto Anguirus and threw the ankylosaur off of his body. Then he opened his mouth and blasted Rodan in the chest with his atomic breath at point-blank range. The pterosaur was similarly sent flying several yards away.

Godzilla got back to his feet, and Anguirus and Rodan did the same. As with Godzilla, the two possessed kaiju would not give up—not as long as their virtual master kept them from doing so.

With no ending to their battle in sight, the three kaiju squared off against each other once more.

* * *

The entire Desert Replika was still shaking violently by the time Aelita and Ulrich made it back to the tower that the _Skid_ was anchored to. Ulrich slowed the Overbike to a stop, and he and Aelita dismounted.

"Jeremy, we're back at the _Skid_ ," Ulrich reported. "What now?"

 _"Give me a second while I energize you back into the submarine,"_ Jeremy answered.

Within moments, Ulrich and Aelita vanished from the plateau of the Desert Replika. Seconds later, Aelita reappeared in the cockpit of the _Skid_ , while Ulrich materialized inside his own Navskid.

 _"Aelita, the Replika is reaching a critical point,"_ informed Jeremy. _"Undock with the tower and get ready to return to Lyoko."_

"Roger that, Jeremy," Aelita responded. "Undocking now." She pressed a few buttons in the cockpit, and the energy beams holding the _Skid_ close to the tower vanished, allowing the submarine to start levitating away from it.

Ten klicks away, the Desert Replika's regulator tower now resembled a giant candlestick more than anything, as orange flame had now almost completely engulfed it. Suddenly, the tower exploded, sending a massive shockwave in all directions. Shortly afterwards, cracks started to appear in the plateau, which then proceeded to crumble to pieces and fall into the Digital Sea below.

Quickly, the rest of the Replika similarly began to crack and fall apart. From the safety of the _Skid_ , Aelita and Ulrich watched as the cracks reached the base of the tower where the submarine had been docked, and the entire plateau surrounding it broke apart and fell into the Digital Sea, leaving only the tower standing. Seconds later, the tower broke free from the power cables that anchored it to the Replika, and it, too, plummeted and disappeared into the Digital Sea.

"We did it, Jeremy," announced Aelita, watching the scene unfold in front of her. "The Replika is collapsing. Your virus code is working flawlessly."

 _"Glad to hear that, Aelita,"_ Jeremy replied. _"Hurry back."_

With that, Aelita commanded the _Skid_ to commence its nosedive back into the Digital Sea. Within seconds, the submarine accelerated out from the gate that it had used to enter the Replika earlier. As the _Skid_ sped away, Aelita glanced back at the Replika just in time to see it vaporized by a massive explosion.

"Scratch one Replika," she said.

* * *

Anguirus and Rodan lunged.

Godzilla braced, waiting for the two kaiju to collide with him yet again.

But the impact never came.

Instead, much to Godzilla's surprise, Anguirus and Rodan both suddenly collapsed to the ground.

As Godzilla watched his two kaiju friends, his confusion only grew. Anguirus and Rodan were now lying on their backs, their entire bodies shaking spastically. Then, without warning, they stopped shaking and simultaneously opened their mouths.

Slowly, two large, black, smoky specters emerged from within the two kaiju's jaws. They floated towards Godzilla, who growled at them belligerently as they approached and began to swirl around his body. As they circled him, Godzilla felt a strange yet familiar presence emanating from them.

 _You have fought valiantly for a mere creature,_ a sinister voice suddenly whispered from within Godzilla's mind, which the leviathan deduced was somehow coming from one of the two specters. That was when it hit him: it was a being like this that had tried to possess him while he rested in the Sea of Japan. Upon realizing this, Godzilla roared at the specters aggressively, and they started to drift away from him.

 _This is just the beginning_ , the specter warned Godzilla. _You will soon learn to serve XANA like the others. Otherwise, your stubborn resistance will be your undoing._ With that, the specters disappeared into the night sky.

So the strange force that had possessed Anguirus and Rodan had a name: XANA. Whatever XANA was, Godzilla was now fully aware that it had evil intentions against humans—and it sought to realize those intentions by using his fellow kaiju as unwitting slaves.

As Godzilla dwelled on this revelation, he heard a commotion to his side. He turned to see Anguirus and Rodan getting up. Quickly, the nuclear leviathan assumed his earlier fighting pose, believing that their fight was about to resume.

But their reaction was not what Godzilla expected. Upon noticing their friend standing in front of them, Anguirus and Rodan lowered their heads submissively and greeted Godzilla with friendly roars. It was then that Godzilla noticed their eyes—the strange symbol that had been embedded in their eyes during the course of their battle had now vanished.

In relief, Godzilla relaxed. His friends had returned to normal.

* * *

Aelita and Ulrich had returned to the Lab after bringing the _Skid_ back to its hangar in Sector 5. Since then, the five Lyoko Warriors had gathered around the interface to discuss the results of their mission.

"You see, Einstein? There isn't a thing that we can't handle," said Odd, giving Ulrich a nudge on the shoulder. "Thanks to Ulrich, we now know how to destroy those dreaded _skorpions_."

 _"Really?"_ asked Ulrich, incredulously. "That's the best name you could come up with?"

"It's simple, yet straight to the point," Odd defended. "They look like scorpions. The only differences are that they're as big as a tank and have a devastating cannon on their tail instead of a stinger."

"Regardless of what you want to call them," Jeremy interjected, "we're going to have to be extra vigilant from here on out. I wouldn't be surprised if they're the only new monster that XANA has created."

"Well, at least now we have a way to destroy the Replikas," said Aelita.

"Right," Jeremy responded. "But there's no way of knowing how many more of them are out there, or how many kaiju are being controlled by them. It could take days before I'm able to locate another Replika—provided that XANA doesn't use it to launch another kaiju attack first."

"Let's not worry about that right now," Yumi stated. "The important thing is that we managed to stop Godzilla, Rodan, and Anguirus from fighting. The next time something like this happens, we'll know exactly what to do."

The other Lyoko Warriors nodded in agreement. Suddenly, the interface beeped, and a live video feed from Osaka appeared on the screen.

Looking at the video feed, the five teens were surprised to see that Godzilla, Anguirus, and Rodan were still in Osaka, albeit not fighting anymore—rather, they seemed to be making a series of brief vocalizations towards each other.

"Why haven't they left the city yet?" Ulrich wondered out loud.

"It looks like they're communicating," commented Aelita.

"You mean that those giant monsters can actually _understand_ each other?" asked Odd.

"It sure looks like it," said Jeremy.

Eventually, as the Lyoko Warriors continued to watch, the three monsters appeared to come to some sort of agreement. With a squawk, Rodan spread his wings and flew off to the east. Following the pterosaur's departure, Godzilla began to trudge back towards the ocean in the opposite direction, motioning for Anguirus to follow him. The spiky behemoth did so, and minutes later, the two kaiju entered the water and started to swim away from the city.

 _"Of course,"_ Jeremy murmured, the realization dawning on him.

"What is it, Jeremy?" asked Aelita.

"The Shobijin were right," he concluded. "By freeing Anguirus and Rodan, we've allowed them to join Godzilla in helping us fight XANA. It all makes sense now."

"Are you sure?" questioned Yumi.

"Absolutely," he confirmed. "The next time XANA attacks, we'll be ready—and so will _they_."

As the Lyoko Warriors watched Godzilla and Anguirus swim away and finally submerge beneath the waves, they reflected on this new chapter of their fight against XANA.

What had started as a hopeless situation had now become a battle.

A winnable battle.

* * *

 **And there you have it: the longest chapter of _CLxG_ to date. (Before author's notes, the total word count for this chapter on its own is well over  9,200!) I don't believe I'll make future chapters quite this long; this chapter was just so jam-packed with action and descriptions that I didn't know where to stop. In hindsight, I probably should have divided this into two separate chapters, but all in all, I'm happy with how this turned out. I really hope that you are, too—and if so, please feel free to leave a review! :D**

* * *

 **Replies to reviews for this chapter will be posted here. Watch this space.**

 **ChimaTigon:** **Thanks! Who they will face next is a secret, but I will give you a hint: to date, the kaiju in question has only appeared in three films (not including stock footage appearances).**

 **Kaiju** **Alpha:** **Speculation is fun, isn't it? XD Thanks for the favorite and follow! :)**

 **Matt: It's good to see you again! I'm sorry to have kept you waiting, but I greatly appreciate that you came back! Thank you so much!**

 **Greer123: Glad that you liked it! I don't think you'll be disappointed by what I have in store for the next chapter. :)**


	6. Interlude 5-6: The Meeting

**Hi again! Well, with college classes treating me the way they have, it's been taking me quite a while to finish Chapter 6. Never fear, however—I have something that will hopefully hold you over until it's finished...**

* * *

 _Undisclosed location_

Ogata checked his watch. 9:59 AM. Silently, he urged for the elevator to move faster.

The elevator doors finally opened, and Ogata sprinted down the deserted corridor. He opened the door at the end and stepped into the conference room, shutting and locking the door behind him as he entered.

 _If you could even call this place a conference room,_ he thought to himself. There was no table, or even any chairs—just six large television screens mounted to the wall. All of them were switched off, but they didn't remain that way for long.

Ogata checked his watch again. The moment the second hand ticked past the twelve, the screens simultaneously powered on. Five of the screens were each labeled with the name of a major world city and the words 'AUDIO ONLY' spelled out in big letters. _Here we go,_ Ogata thought as he mentally prepared himself for what was to come.

"Good morning, High Council," Ogata greeted the television screens. "I thank you for your willingness to let me speak with you personally."

 _"Skip the formalities, Ogata,"_ commanded a male voice from the screen labeled 'BEIJING.' _"We are on a tight schedule—it is only due to your status that we have granted your request to speak to us."_

Ogata suppressed a sigh. This was going to be one of _those_ meetings. _I'd better not test their patience._

"As you wish," he responded meekly.

 _"First things first,"_ began another voice, this time from the screen labeled 'WASHINGTON,' _"give us your brief testimony of what you saw during the incident in Osaka."_

"Of course," Ogata acknowledged, clearing his throat. "Shortly after Anguirus first made landfall in Kobe, I evacuated the Geological Institute's offices in Osaka; after which, I sent for a helicopter from G-Force so I could witness the kaiju's attack on the city."

 _"For what purpose?"_ inquired the voice from the screen labeled 'PARIS.'

"As you are well aware, Anguirus was presumed to have died after fighting Godzilla in Osaka in 1955," Ogata explained. "As the Director of G-Force's Research and Development Department, I felt that it was my duty to determine whether or not this was the same creature; and if so, how he may have survived his ordeal."

 _"Data gathered from Saturday's incident has confirmed that this Anguirus was indeed the same individual that was observed in 1955,"_ a female voice from the 'LONDON' screen added.

 _"I see,"_ Paris replied, seemingly satisfied. _"Continue."_

"From the helicopter, I continued to watch as Anguirus overpowered the JSDF and entered downtown Osaka. Godzilla emerged from Osaka Bay roughly ten minutes later. We remained long enough to witness the opening act of their battle, but we were forced to leave immediately after Rodan was sighted in the area."

 _"Really?"_ spat a Russian voice, from the screen labeled 'MOSCOW.' _"The great Hiroshi Ogata, running away and hiding from a mere pterosaur? I refuse to believe it."_

 _"You seem to be forgetting, Moscow,"_ responded Washington, _"that standard G-Force protocol is to immediately enforce a no-fly zone within a one hundred nautical mile radius of wherever Rodan is sighted."_

 _"Protocol!"_ Moscow retorted. _"As if Ogata has a record of heeding—"_

 _"Enough!"_ boomed a sixth voice, much deeper than the others. It originated from the sixth and the largest of the television screens, and the only one to lack the name of a city, instead simply bearing G-Force's coat of arms.

 _"The Delegates from Moscow and Washington will refrain from their irrelevant bickering,"_ the deep voice commanded with the tone of authority that Ogata knew all too well. _"Ogata, does this conclude your testimony?"_

"Yes, Chairman," Ogata answered.

 _"Very good,"_ the unseen Chairman replied. _"Now, on to more important matters. We have reviewed the written request that you submitted to us, in which you asked for the use of more potent weaponry in light of this sudden resurgence of kaiju activity. It is also our understanding that Commander Aso made a similar appeal directly to the U.N. yesterday, did he not?"_

"Correct," Ogata confirmed. "The recent attacks on Japan by Rodan and Anguirus have demonstrated that even the most modern conventional weaponry is ineffective against kaiju. Many U.N. members who wanted G-Force defunded just a few weeks ago are now calling for the reactivation of our dedicated Anti-Kaiju Weapons. However, there are still some holdouts trying to uphold the ban of 2001."

 _"So you are asking us to tell the U.N. to authorize the use of these weapons?"_ asked Beijing. _"We are not your errand boys, Ogata."_

 _"Indeed,"_ Moscow agreed. _"If you want them so badly, go and plead to the U.N. yourself, like Aso."_

 _"Do not forget that it is_ your _governments who are spearheading the effort to maintain the Anti-Terrorism Ban,"_ argued Washington. _"Which do you find to be the greater threat: the use of these weapons, or kaiju?"_

 _"The Delegate from Washington makes a valid point,"_ said the Chairman. _"Very well, Ogata. We will see to it that G-Force procures the weaponry it needs to defend against future kaiju attacks. In the meantime, you and your department are to immediately resume development of Project MG."_

Ogata couldn't believe what he had just heard. Was the High Council really willing to take such an extreme measure as _that_?

"P-Project MG?" he stuttered, unable to contain his surprise. "But it was cancelled back in the nineties—will the U.N. even allow us to do such a thing?"

 _"The U.N. is a flawed organization with little real power,"_ the Chairman responded. _"And according to your Department's reports, the unit is approximately eighty to ninety percent complete, and remains in storage at G-Force's facility in Akita. How soon can you and your team get it ready for combat?"_

Ogata paused momentarily to do the math. "With our current resources, approximately three weeks, provided that neither the U.N. nor the Administrative Department raises any objections."

 _"We cannot afford to wait that long,"_ the Chairman advised. _"We will give you a maximum of two weeks. Leave the insignificant issue of the U.N. to us."_

"Understood, Chairman," Ogata replied.

 _"Do not fail us, Ogata,"_ the Chairman warned, and with that, the six television screens switched off all at once.

With the meeting over almost as quickly as it had begun, Ogata took a moment to release his pent-up frustration before he left.

 _"Son of a bi—!"_

* * *

 **What you've just read is this story's first interlude—basically, a short narrative that doesn't really fit in with a specific chapter, but is too short to be considered a proper chapter on its own. Be sure to read these interludes as I post them; they will contain plot details that will become more relevant later!**

 **Stay tuned for Chapter 6: An Unexpected Return!**

* * *

 **Replies to reviews for this interlude will be posted here. Watch this space.**

 **ChimaTigon: It's possible…after all, Baragon _does_ fit the bill I described (he's only been in three films to date, not counting additional appearances through the use of stock footage), but so do others—some of whom were mentioned by a previous reviewer. You'll have to wait and see!**

 **Matt: I've made some pretty good progress on Chapter 6. Hopefully I'll be able to post it in a timely manner!**


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